Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Besides the N5, I hope the Minister will not let us down on metro north in a few weeks time. Everybody on the north side of Dublin is counting on him to ensure this project is delivered.

Road traffic legislation is clearly very complex. However, there seems to have been an endless need for "tidying up" legislation, as the Minister has noted, in the aftermath of last year's supposedly landmark Road Traffic Act 2010 which introduced the primary legislative changes for mandatory alcohol testing and the lowering of the drink-drive limit. It is incredible that this is the second amending Bill that has been necessary to address the profound flaws in the 2010 Act introduced by the former Minister for Transport, Mr. Dempsey. In effect, two absolutely critical aspects of the 2010 Act - the lower drink drive limit and mandatory testing - could not be introduced without this extra legislation. The earlier 2011 amending Act, introduced a few months ago, dealt primarily with aspects of the mandatory testing regime and the No. 2 Bill before us relates to some of the drink-driving provisions. It is astonishing to learn from the Minister's helpful note that we will need a further road traffic No. 3 Bill that is intended to cover among other reforms another amendment of the 2010 Act in respect of impairment testing and unconscious drivers. Why did the Minister not address that matter or the graduated driver licensing system, which has been discussed for years, in this Bill or the previous one?

The short Bill before us sets out a serious of amendments in sections 2 to 9 that clarify and tighten road safety measures. Sections 7 and 8 relate to the obligations of drivers to provide a preliminary breath specimen and a blood or urine specimen in hospital.

Colleagues from the last Dáil will remember the legislative agonies that we went through with the Road Traffic Act 2010. I remember the then Minister, former Deputy Noel Dempsey, sending various irate Fianna Fáil Deputies to meet me about that Act. Genuine concerns were raised by many rural Deputies on the impact of the lower drink driving limit, especially on senior citizens who may live in very isolated parts of the country. I am deeply concerned with the problems faced by rural citizens and that is why I hope that in the comprehensive spending review, the Minister will again ensure our impressive rural transport network will not lose any funding, and that Bus Éireann will not lose any funding. These are additional responsibilities for him in the next few weeks.

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