Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Bill introduced by my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross.

I acknowledge that excessive drinking and drink-driving should not be tolerated. Too many people have lost their lives as a result of it and too many families have been left devastated by it. I meet people who have lost loved ones as a result of it. Therefore, drinking to excess and driving afterwards cannot be tolerated.

Today I have heard two members of the joint committee speak about the Bill and their deliberations on it. There are mixed views on the Bill as to whether it is correct to change the law to make it mandatory to put people off the road. It is a very sensitive issue. In my constituency of Galway East there are a huge number of rural communities and on a continual basis I have people coming to see me in my clinics to say the Bill goes too far. The view shared by many is that it is disproportionate in the sentence that will be handed down to people found to have alcohol in their system between the levels of 50 mg and 80 mg. The way to deal with the matter is to increase the penalties in place to make it more prohibitive and to give people the warning already highlighted. It happened to me once. I was bagged, as one might say, but I was fine because I had no drink taken. It is an unreal experience to be stopped by a garda and asked to blow into the breathalyser. It left me in a position where I was blowing into the bag and wondering when I had last taken a drink. I had not taken a drink for about two weeks before that, but the fear was in me and I knew one had to be so careful when drinking.

Many factors lead to road deaths, some of which have been highlighted by Deputies across the house. Speeding is one. There are speed limits which people believe are the speeds at which they have to drive. We should, however, be driving at a speed at which we can control our car. This factor is coupled with the state of the roads, especially in rural Ireland, which is not the fault of the Minister. For the past 15 years the roads budget has been decimated. We have a legacy that needs to be addressed in terms of poor road surfaces and alignment.

Every rural Deputy will relate to the issues posed by verge trimming and overhanging trees. During the recent storm there were three fatalities due to trees falling onto roads. Many trees on roadsides are probably unsafe. This issue needs to be addressed.

Some people drive under the influence of drugs, which is another issue that is not being brought to the fore.

In its current form, the Bill will have a serious impact on rural Ireland. The main issue is that it will be counterproductive in that there are many people who live alone. I know many such persons who go to their local pub to collect their pension. They may meet friends, have a drink or two and go home. This is the highlight of their week. apart from going to mass on Sunday or visiting the doctor, where they might meet someone else. They now live in fear which has been created by our discussion on drink driving and changing the law. That fear will lead to health issues, isolation, depression and a sense of not belonging. Their health will deteriorate which could be coupled with their buying bottles of whiskey and drinking it at home where no one sees or can control what they are doing. This issue has to be addressed.

We have many laws on drink driving, but their enforcement needs to be updated. Many breathalyser tests were recorded, even though they had never been carried out. There is a lack of faith in how the laws on drink driving are being enforced. This is not part of the Minister's remit, but it is a concern.

The Bill has raised the issue of rural transport, or the lack thereof. The Minister has been in office for 18 months and heard much about this issue. I welcome his engagement with stakeholders to try to devise solutions. Even though it is not official, what I read in the newspapers last Monday about a proposal to increase transport links in rural areas would not be sufficient, as it would only affect some counties. That document is probably under discussion.

As Deputy Michael Collins stated, under the programme for Government any legislation introduced must be rural proofed. I understand the Minister with responsibility for rural proofing is the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Michael Ring. In that regard, I do not know whether he has carried out a process of due diligence on the Bill. I would like to know whether he has and, if so, to see a copy of it.

We have discussed how the rural transport system works, but, like many other areas throughout the country, mine does not have a rural transport service. It does not even have simpler things like bus stops. A bus will pass the door and one will have to drive 5 km to get on it. People travelling from Coldwood to Galway city have to drive 10 km by car because there is no bus stop at Coldwood to pick them up. Someone could walk 500 yd. to get on a bus. There does not seem to be any enthusiasm within Bus Éireann to provide bus stops.

Traditionally, it provided bus stops in certain locations and that seems to be the way it works. It has not looked at the changing population in rural Ireland.

I was speaking to a journalist in recent days who arranged to meet a person at 9 p.m because he could then get the bus home at 10 p.m. I told him that there were many people in rural Ireland who would be delighted to be able to get a bus home from work at 10 p.m. He takes it for granted. The older person or couple who want to go to the local pub and have a couple of drinks would love to be able to go to the pub at 8 p.m, have their drinks and get the bus home at 10 p.m. That service does not exist. There are no taxis. In my experience of rural transport, business people have tried to start up a community taxi service within a village or small town. It was tried in Dunmore, which Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice knows well. Those people went through the hoops to get a registered taxi service, only to be shot down when they looked for insurance. It was going to cost them €6,000 per annum to insure the vehicle. That option was ruled out.

All laws need to have a balance. The law of diminishing return applies as well. When we balance this Bill with the negative effects it may have on rural Ireland, we may decide that it needs to be looked at again.

Returning to the issue of drinking and driving, investment in education at national school level is where we should start. By the time these children reach secondary school, it is too late to start talking about drinking and the way people should drink. Most young people are drinking at that stage and they are developing their habits. It is important that we educate young people at national school level. Coupled with education about alcohol, we also need to educate them about how to drive, how to use the roads and speed limits. We need to instil that information into our youth at national school level. This week, there has been talk of introducing music into every school in a couple of years' time. As a matter of urgency, we should introduce a subject on alcohol, alcohol abuse, drugs, drugs abuse and drink-driving at national school level to start people off on the right foot.

I accept that drink-driving is a very sensitive subject. Ultimately, however, there is a need for balance in what we are doing. I know many people who are living on their own and who do not know what they are going to do to collect their pensions. There are people who are afraid to go to mass at 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning in Belclare if they have been out the night before for fear of being caught drink-driving the morning after. It is important that we examine the Bill. There has been much talk about it in rural Ireland. It has created much debate and has also instilled fear. The changes the Minister intends to make with this Bill could be counter-productive. Having read the report of the joint committee, I realise that there was no agreement as to the merits of the Bill.

This Bill goes too far. We need to look at it and balance it up.

We also need further discussion on how this Bill will affect rural Ireland and how it can be rural-proofed to ensure we do not isolate more people. I accept there is no desire to do this but that might be an unintended consequence of this measure. The attitude to drink-driving in this country is different now to what it was when I was a teenager. At that time, everybody engaged in drink-driving and they got away with it. I recall that at 12 noon, after 11 a.m. mass, my local pub would be full and men would not go home for their dinner until around 2.30 p.m. or 3 p.m. Thankfully, that day is gone. I believe that current laws in this area are sufficient, with, perhaps, a re-examination of the penalties applicable to the 50 mg to 80 mg band. We inadvertently create laws that can be counterproductive and I believe this is such a law. The Minister, Deputy Ross, and I have discussed this issue many times. I respect his views on it but I ask him to consider the views of rural Ireland. It is important that as legislators we do not isolate people. I accept that this is not the intention but it could happen.

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