Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

That would be good because this is about changing behaviour and transforming how we live.

The first time a person exceeds the new BAC level, he or she incurs three penalty points but does not face a mandatory court appearance. He or she will then be put off the road for a second offence and incur a further three penalty points. I do not wish to be misinterpreted but a driver can only be put off the road if he or she has incurred 12 penalty points for other road traffic offences while drivers who are convicted under this legislation will only incur six penalty points before being put off the road. There may be legal issues in this regard. People may not wish to discuss this issue, which may be controversial, but if one is breaks the law by drink-driving, incurring only three penalty points for the offence is questionable. That may not be a popular point of view but this needs to be examined. Ultimately, the courts may be asked to adjudicate on this in a case.

I do not wish to make political points but these are important issues. The word "mandatory" implies something must be done. The weakness in the legislation is that mandatory testing is not provided for in certain cases where a person is brought to a hospital. If someone is involved in an accident, medical attention must be provided immediately and it must be the priority. However, the legislation needs to provide for a higher standard for being unable to give a blood sample. In other words, if I am brought to hospital and I am seriously injured, the most senior medical officer on duty should have to sign off on the reason I am not being tested for suspected alcohol consumption. If an individual is involved in an accident, he or she should be tested and if he or she ends up in hospital, the senior physician on duty should have to say he or she could not be tested because of his or her medical condition. That is the way we must think about this issue. It would make a great deal of sense to do so.

Another weakness in the legislation relates to previously incurred penalty points. I acknowledge that the Minister is attempting to deal with this by giving a person seven days within which he or she can pay a fine rather than go to court. The Irish Independent recently published a report claiming 230,000 penalty points could not been applied to the driving licences of 18,000 people who had been in serious breach of the law by driving dangerous defective vehicles or driving dangerously and so on because the licence number had not been recorded. The penalty point system is in significant disrepute when 230,000 points can never be applied to these licences.

The behaviour of drivers from Northern Ireland is still a significant problem. I experience this every day on the road, particularly on the M1. Notwithstanding the fact that the Ceann Comhairle is being transported in a fine vehicle, I am sure he experiences the same problem. Motorists travel in the fast lane at 160 km/h and nine times out of ten the vehicle is registered in Northern Ireland. The question is how to deal with these offenders. Discussions are ongoing between the Minister, the Northern Ireland Executive and the British Government about this but it remains a serious problem. Disqualification in other jurisdictions is mutually recognised but there is still a significant problem with North of Ireland drivers speeding dangerously in this jurisdiction and with South of Ireland drivers speeding north of the Border. Penalty points need to be brought into line, North and South, for the same offences so that there will be common penalties.

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