Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Like other Deputies, I welcome the indications the Minister gave in regard to the amendments which will be withdrawn. Many of the issues we have raised and on Second Stage will be dealt with in the road traffic (No. 2) Bill, to which I look forward. It will be a more comprehensive Bill and will deal with a range of issues which need to be addressed. By the time the No. 2 Bill comes along I hope we will have the changes to legislation to deal with the point about the unconscious and drunk drivers in a more formal way than is happening now. I also welcome the fact that the Garda Síochána is in training to ensure it can capture some of the people who cause mayhem on our roads. The tragedy associated with this is not limited to the number of people who die on our roads, it includes the many people left severely disabled. That can have the same effect on a family as someone dying. A whole family can be totally changed trying to care for someone who has been injured in a road accident. It is important to try to deal with people who take risks getting home from or to work, having taken drink or drugs. A car can be a lethal weapon and the message must go out, with two bank holidays in the coming weeks, that dangerous driving will not be tolerated. Drivers should take care, especially at those times. The number of deaths and serious injuries seems to peak at bank holiday weekends.

The Minister or Deputy Broughan mentioned the Garda traffic corps and checkpoints. The Garda Síochána is doing a tremendous job on road traffic in recent times. However, some of the checkpoints can be over the top in terms of the number of gardaí in attendance. Recently I saw 14 gardaí at a checkpoint with only one line of traffic. If they had split the checkpoint between both sides of the road, they would have captured more people in breach of our road traffic laws. Most drivers are in total compliance and suffer the consequences and the expense of people on our roads with no insurance, breaking the rules. If most people are willing to stick by the rules that were introduced for valid reasons, we should ensure every road traffic user must comply with them. I have no problem with checkpoints, which are a good initiative, and some are located where cars cannot avoid them. We must be careful not to put all the resources into one basket. The threat of the immediate loss of licence should be there when people are found to be in breach of the law.

Section 2(4) states "A member of the Garda Síochána may arrest without warrant a person who in the member's opinion is committing or has committed an offence under this section." I find it strange that "may" is used. This might be one of the rare occasions when the Minister accepts the change to "shall". If the garda is of the opinion that a person is committing a crime, the garda should arrest the person. There may be room for discretion and I am not suggesting the Minister should delay this Bill. Perhaps it can be corrected in the No. 2 Bill. This is a useful Bill that must be passed at this stage. We can come back to change it, if needed, at a different stage.

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