Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I have included provision for the mandatory testing for alcohol of drivers involved in road traffic collisions in the new Road Traffic Bill, which was published on 30 October 2009. The proposal is that mandatory testing of a driver at a collision will be undertaken by a member of the Garda Síochána where an injury is caused to another person that requires medical assistance. This addresses a specific action in the Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012 to "ensure appropriate legislation and protocols to address the testing of road users involved in collisions". It also meets a commitment I have made on a number of occasions to include a suitable provision in the Road Traffic Bill.

Following its publication, the Bill will be considered by the Oireachtas in due course. Once the Bill has been finalised and approved by the Oireachtas, and signed into law, commencement of the various provisions, including this one, will proceed. In the meantime, the current position is that the Garda Síochána has discretion under road traffic legislation to require a driver involved in a collision to provide a preliminary breath specimen. The discretion was provided in acknowledgement of the fact that urgent medical attention may be required for seriously injured victims, and that must take precedence over breath testing. While that remains the case, the provision in the new Road Traffic Bill makes it clear that a breath specimen must be taken unless there are particular overriding circumstances for not doing so.

A garda may also currently request a blood or urine sample from a driver who is in hospital following a vehicle incident, where the garda believes that the person was intoxicated at the time. The new Road Traffic Bill also strengthens this provision, by placing an obligation on the driver involved in a collision to provide such a specimen while in hospital. Both these provisions are part of the package of issues addressed in the Road Traffic Bill in regard to intoxicated driving in particular.

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