Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

At some level within the Garda Síochána, or at political level, a decision has been taken not to use the breathalyser. I ask the Minister to investigate as this is quite significant and should be explained.

A reply to one of my parliamentary questions from last week shows that despite the introduction of a Garda traffic corps, the number of speeding fines issued last year was the second lowest in the past six years. This amounts to less than half the number of fines issued in 2001. A similar trend exists for safety belt fines but I do not accept the level of compliance has changed so dramatically.

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