Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation and I congratulate Deputy Olivia Mitchell on bringing it forward. As the Minister will appreciate from the debate thus far, this Bill is not an attempt to embarrass or prosecute the Government on its road safety record in the last ten years. There is an acceptance, both in Government and Opposition, that we could and should have done more in that time to prioritise road safety. The figures for the last three or four years speak for themselves, indicating an increase in the number of road deaths from 335 in 2003 to 396 last year.

It is important to acknowledge, however, that there seems to be a change in this upward trend, particularly in recent months. Despite a tragic first half to this year when, in several months, fatalities continued to increase on last year's figures, the last two months in particular have given some cause for optimism. However, this improvement does not prove anything other than encouraging us to do more. The point is that this Bill is a genuine effort to improve existing legislation and do what an Opposition should do, namely, engage in constructive criticism and try to fill gaps.

I wish to focus on two sections as my time is limited. The first is section 3, which attempts to provide for the mandatory breath testing of drivers involved in an accident. That should almost be obvious. We see too many court cases where people make educated guesses about whether those involved in an accident consumed alcohol. Victims' families have a right to know the science of what was done following an accident. Gardaí must make the call, striking the right balance between gathering scientific information on the role of alcohol and whether a person requires medical treatment. However, too often gardaí find themselves in the awkward position of having to judge there and then whether someone is drunk in the middle of the trauma of an accident.

If there were a mandatory obligation for a garda to administer a test, it would become part of procedure, and he or she would not have to make an emotional call if something were suspected, particularly after an accident, when everyone concerned, including the garda, is trying to put the pieces together. I know of many cases in which gardaí wished that they had insisted on a breath or blood test for alcohol but could not do so at the time because they felt it inappropriate. I ask the Minister to consider this section, which makes sense.

Section 4 has already been referred to along with section 3. It allows the Minister to make regulations for the testing of drivers for substances other than alcohol. Currently, one must acknowledge, there are no tried and tested mechanisms functioning as we would like. However, if we produce a test that works, it is important to build into the legislation the capacity to slot it in.

It is true that the area of prescription drugs is extremely difficult because there is such a wide range of these. Some 15% of the population suffer from depression, many of them on drugs that may cause drowsiness or other issues, and many other conditions require regular drug treatment. We must do something about the fact that so many accidents involve people on prescription drugs, and that must be recognised in legislation and awareness campaigns, which, if they exist, have not worked.

Another aspect to drugs is the illegal use of cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine, solvents and heroin. The incidence of the use of most of these is increasing in Ireland, and the national drugs strategy, while doing something, is failing to reverse the tide of drug use in the capital or around the country. When one considers that almost 5% of men aged between 15 and 35 use cocaine, a dramatic increase over the last five years, one begins to realise the numbers involved. If one correlates the number of young men likely to be killed in fatal accidents with the likelihood of their using illegal drugs, one sees that there must be an obvious link between the two, and that must be recognised in legislation.

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