Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I fully support the measures in this Bill to reduce the legal blood-alcohol limit while driving from 80 mg to 50 mg per 100 ml of blood and to provide for a reduced rate of 20 mg per 100 ml of blood for learner and professional drivers. These measures had cross-party support when they were introduced in the Road Traffic Act 2010.

For too long drink driving was the scourge of our society and our nation's roads. Road safety statistics show that 2010 was the safest year on our roads on record. I commend the work of the Road Safety Authority in this regard. In the Seanad last week, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport mentioned a striking statistic, that in 1972 a total of 640 people died on Irish roads. This equates to more than 50 deaths per month. A total of 212 people were killed in 2010. While that is still far too many, it represents the lowest figure since records began in 1959. Drink driving incidents fell by 14% between 2009 and 2010. However, we cannot become complacent. Any death that occurs on our roads owing to the consumption of alcohol is one death too many.

An Automobile Association, AA, survey published in August showed that 87% of motorists believed that drink driving is shameful. This is clearly a positive trend, but what worried me about this survey is that while many people would not drink and drive, more than one in four young people say they have taken a lift from someone they knew to be over the drink driving limit. What does this say about our behaviour and the risks we are willing to take? Does it mean it is the fear of being caught that is reducing drink driving incidents rather than a concern for health and safety? Reducing the legal blood-alcohol limits to such a low level will reinforce in the minds of drivers that any level of alcohol consumed affects the ability to drive. It puts the driver, their passengers and everyone else on the road at risk.

The same AA survey revealed that more than half of 17 to 24 year olds say they have driven the morning after a night's drinking while unsure if the alcohol they consumed had cleared from their system. The new levels will also make drivers more aware of their ability to drive the morning after a great deal of alcohol has been consumed. The timing of the introduction of this new lower limit is very important. I am pleased the legislation will come into force in time for the October bank holiday weekend. It sends a strong message and one hopes we will no longer hear bank holiday news headlines reporting high numbers of road tragedies.

I support the provision for mandatory testing but I wonder if we can take it further. Will the Minister consider the introduction of mandatory drug testing? A two-pronged approach is necessary to tackle this problem, legislation requiring mandatory testing for drugs and an increased focus by the Road Safety Authority on the dangers of driving while under the influence of drugs. The Minister said in the Seanad that there is as yet no reliable technology to provide for roadside testing for drugs. He also said that where someone has taken drugs, they will probably also be drunk, so we can catch them for one offence if not the other. I am concerned that this might not always be the case and I hope the Minister will seek to address that.

I commend the measures in the Bill. I congratulate the Road Safety Authority on the improving statistics.

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