Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I refer to the first question raised by the Deputy. This includes the consequential disqualification provisions of all Road Traffic Acts from 1961 to 2009. All future Road Traffic Bills will include all the provisions relating to various aspects in one section and we will update all the sections accordingly. We are doing so in this case and matters related to driving under the influence of an intoxicant are all together in one provision. One feature of the next Bill will involve putting all penalty points offences in one area. To answer the Deputy's question, the Bill includes changes to the provisions of the Acts from 1961 to 2009.

The situation has not changed in respect of when I expect the provisions of the Bill to come into force. The timescale has not changed. The Medical Bureau of Road Safety is in the procurement process. It expects this will be completed and it will be in a position to test the EBT, evidential breath test, machines over the next six months. Once that testing is carried out the order will be placed. It will take a further period following purchase to test and ensure the machines are okay. This is likely to take six months. They will be rolled out to the Garda stations over the course of a three or four month period and I expect that by September of next year, once the Garda training and everything else is in place, the new sections with lower limits will come into play.

See this speech in context