Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The reality is that the Minister's predecessor, the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, dropped the ball and did not implement the section. The issue has been ongoing since the previous Administration. There is a need for a sense of urgency. As I mentioned, a number of weeks ago the Minister told me that of the almost 48,000 people summoned to court in 2013 for offences attracting penalty points, only 11,055 had received convictions. In the first seven months of this year, of the 32,000 people summoned to court for these offences, only 7,977 received convictions. This is a real issue. As the Minister knows, the backdrop to it is provided by the road casualty figures for last year which, unfortunately, regressed and are regressing further this year. The Minister is now at the wheel in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

I acknowledge that it is very complex in relation to how the Minister's Department works with the Department of Justice and Equality, but there is an onus on him to ensure he is not coming back here to say the matter is administrative and technical. He must get the working group to report as a matter of urgency and then implement the report.

The Minister might come back to me on section 12 of the Road Traffic Act 2014 which provides for the taking of a specimen of blood in hospital from an incapacitated driver following a crash. When is it intended to implement that provision? People believe it is very important to deter the mayhem which, unfortunately, continues to happen on the roads.

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