Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

As far as the Road Traffic Bill is concerned, Fine Gael certainly welcomes it. Any right thinking citizen who considers what is involved in this legislation must decide it is for the greater good of the people. I have serious doubts about some aspects of it but this is no reason for us not to want to ensure that legislation of the highest quality is passed. Many arguments will be made and votes called on Committee Stage because certain aspects of the Bill will not stand up legally. I am a member on the Select Committee on Transport and have listened to a range of people over the past 12 months, each with his own speciality. Everybody has a very important objective and we can only hope this Bill and others will be cohesive.

For some strange reason, the Government and many outside this House wonder why the carnage is so great on the roads. If ever there were a cancer in society, it is the manner in which people blatantly abdicate their responsibility when behind the wheel during the day and particularly at night. There are now twice as many cars on the road as there were 20 years ago. Not only is this the case but there is also a substantial increase in their horsepower. People boast about the horsepower of their cars. Irrespective of what anybody might say, our road network has not kept pace with the number of motorists thereon. We are simply running out of space.

In addition to this, alcoholism has become rampant. I do not have to tell colleagues in this House about the level of binge drinking, particularly among groups of youths, all over the country and at all hours of the night. If one wanted to know the cocktail of circumstances that create havoc on the roads, one should consider all the aforementioned factors. They are certainly a recipe for disaster, which is what we have.

We have a culture of admiring those who get away with something. Consider what happens when somebody is let off in court, although I am sure this happens for very good legal reasons. The recent dismissal of drink driving offences in court, for example, serves as oxygen for thousands of people. When they hear about it they get it into their skulls that they, too, can have their cases dismissed. Solicitors and barristers are entitled to exploit loopholes in the law so their clients' cases can be dismissed. However, every time it is broadcast on television that a drink driving case has been dismissed on a technicality, it should be noted that the accused persons were under the influence of alcohol. To this day, a great number of people almost wave the flag and congratulate such people on getting away with their offence. Until this culture changes we will have a serious problem.

The culture can be changed in the same way we changed the smoking culture that existed prior to the smoking ban. As Members well know, people actually turn up their noses in all sorts of public places if they see somebody smoking. We will have to turn up our noses at drink driving. Until we do so to the extent that people will not tolerate the existing culture, we will not make any headway.

I like a number of provisions in this Bill. I have always believed that nobody should have to wait six to ten months for a driving test. When one is learning to drive, the teachers are in a position to impart to one the right sort of knowledge. Many teachers do so but we do not have national standards. I assume this Bill will address this problem and that we will have certain, specific standards.

We introduced a Bill on mobile phones some weeks ago during Private Members' time. The Government said it saw nothing wrong with it but that, because it was initiated by the Opposition, it would await its own Bill. We now have that Bill and it has certain flaws but one does not have to be a rocket scientist to know one cannot possibly have one's mind on the road while at the same time messing around trying to find digits on a mobile phone as one drives down a busy thoroughfare. The day has come on which this practice should be wiped out. I have a hands-free mobile phone and, like most others, I do a great deal of business with it. However, I wonder how safe it is. In any case, it is senseless to drive while using a mobile phone as it affects concentration. I hope that whatever formula of words we include in this Bill will stand up in court and that anybody driving, with a mobile phone in hand while on the road will be regarded as committing an offence. I hope sincerely we will be able to achieve this.

Consider that a garda must "form an opinion" on people intending to drive after tumbling out of public houses and other places late at night before he can make an arrest. One can rest assured that the context in which a garda witnesses people coming out of a public house at midnight is very different to that in which he witnesses people coming out from mass 12 hours later. The garda would certainly be more likely to meet intoxicated people in the former case. There is a constitutional matter involved in this regard but it is simple as far as I am concerned. I have been a pioneer all my life but spend a great deal of time in pubs. If, after this Bill is enacted, a garda sees me coming out of a pub at midnight or 12.30 a.m. and tells me he is going to breathalyse me, I will see nothing wrong with it because I will have nothing to hide. One could not say I would be grossly inconvenienced. If the law were such that somebody emerging from a pub after having consumed eight, ten or 12 pints could be stopped from driving as a result, it would be good law.

I hope when the Bill is enacted it will be interpreted by the judges in the way we interpret it on the floor of this House. As such, the people will accept it and will not regard it as too great an intrusion into their private lives. I would not regard it as such, nor would many others.

I have had a bee in my bonnet all my life about those found guilty of causing death on the road while under the influence of alcohol and therefore not in their full senses. There should be a mandatory jail sentence of a defined length for such people who cause havoc among families.

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