Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

That is correct. Any measure we bring in has to work in our legal system. Gardaí are being trained in the use of the evidential test for drug use, which involves neurological testing, walking a line, touching a finger to the nose, Romberg testing and so on, which will be admissible in court and can be carried out at the scene of an accident.

With regard to the blood alcohol limit, the machines are ordered and gardaí are currently in training with Professor Cusack in UCD and will be trained up by September or October. I am keen to introduce the necessary measures to reduce the blood alcohol limit allowed and to have a major campaign around that period to advise people that the noose is tightening on anyone who thinks it is appropriate to drink and drive.

I am ad idem with Deputy Broughan on the question of the GoSafe vans. What has happened is appalling. I am glad nobody has been harmed but, from what I understand, that was not far from happening on one occasion. I have had discussions with the assistant commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Law Reform in this regard. An issue that greatly concerns me, which I heard from the Garda, is that a St. Patrick's day parade in a certain part of the country contained a float which more or less mocked the idea of one of these vans being burned out. It shocks me that people would even think this is an appropriate response.

As Members will be aware, the GoSafe vans are contracted in such a way that the company does not make any extra money no matter how many drivers are stopped. While some people perceive they are there to catch people speeding and, therefore, to collect revenue, that is not the case. The company does not benefit from catching extra people. The vans are located in areas where there have been accidents and their locations are listed on the Garda website, so there is no case for anyone taking a dim view of them. I am horrified at what has occurred, which was not anticipated. I assure the House that the Minister for Justice and Law Reform and I will press the Garda to do all it can to bring the people who have carried out these acts to justice. I suspect those who have done this are not concerned about two or four penalty points; they are much more sinister elements which are generally opposed to the idea of there being any Garda surveillance on the roads.

With regard to the number of road deaths, Deputy Broughan stated that there had been 61 to date this year, which brings us six ahead of the same period last year, which is of genuine concern. However, as with economic statistics, I would not read too much into monthly or quarterly statistics. If we were to take the monthly statistics, five people have died so far this month on our roads, which is a tragedy but is also the lowest ever number for a similar period. If, as we hope, there are no deaths on our roads over the Easter bank holiday, the figure would be well under the 19 who died on the roads last April. The objective is to keep reducing the number of road deaths every year and to bring in whatever legislation and enforcement measures are necessary to ensure that is the case.

I thank the House and the Opposition spokespersons for their assistance in allowing us to introduce this legislation, which strengthens the current arrangements and brings in mandatory breath testing. I look forward to seeing it in operation in the coming months with a view to introducing the No. 2 Bill later in the year and strengthening the corpus of law even further.

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