Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

The process involving the testing, tendering and purchase of machines started on the day I put the Bill into the public domain. I did this in order to cut at least six months off the normal time taken to procure such instruments. The largest and most complex part of the process relates to the EBTs. The current versions, approved and supplied to the Garda stations, could be recalibrated to the 50 milligram limit but could not be recalibrated to the 20 milligram limit. I have asked the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, MBRS, to purchase the new generation of EBT instruments, which will be capable of measuring all the range. It has begun the process and we are coming to the end of the process where people identify and submit interest in tendering.

Samples must be evaluated by the MBRS and these are tested over six months, which will be in the latter half of this year. At the end of that period, towards the end of this year, it is expected that they can be approved by January 2011. They are then moved to Garda stations and over a period of approximately six months they will be installed in Garda stations and gardaí will be trained in their use. They will be ready for operation by that summer.

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