Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Eugene Murphy. I have listened to the statistics given by Members on the Government benches but, as a former Taoiseach once said, one can prove anything one likes with statistics. The Government just does not understand how rural Ireland operates or the damage it is going to do to rural Ireland. No one condones drunk driving and I will not stand in this Chamber and say anyone should get behind the wheel of a car when drunk. However, the changes the Government is making to legislation will make it impossible for people to go to a rural pub which, in an awful lot of cases, is their only social outlet. They have to get behind the wheel of a car to go to work the morning after but the new focus on testing in the morning time will make it impossible for them to do so.

I enjoy a game of cards and I enjoy the social aspect of pubs in rural areas and rural towns. There is great craic in playing a game of 25, which is described by the Oxford Dictionaryas a game played by the peasant Irish. I have enjoyed playing it for long hours in country pubs but, unfortunately, that social fabric is becoming a thing of the past. This legislation will cause rural isolation and social isolation of this nature causes mental issues. The legislation will send tremors down the backs of people who enjoy one or two drinks in their local hostelry. If there is no company when one goes into a local pub it is a waste of time but that is what is happening in rural pubs. They are closing in huge numbers and rural publicans now say it is not worth their while opening on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night. That is a cancer because if one goes to a pub and there is nobody there, one will not go again the next night.

We are not here to discuss mental health services but this will cause immense mental health issues and I represent a county where no psychiatric bed is available at this moment. We have no Luas in rural Ireland, no taxis, no buses passing the door, no DART and no train service. Even in provincial towns you will not, most nights of the week, get a taxi to take you home. Last night I was at a cumann meeting in a pub in my home town of Thurles. When I came downstairs at 10.30 p.m. there were two people in the pub and this is two weeks before Christmas. I went out to go home at the same time and the town was deserted. There is a taxi rank outside the door but there was no taxi and one would not get one at that time as it is not economic for taxis to operate.

The Minister represents south County Dublin and he does not understand what this legislation will do to rural Ireland.

I am very disappointed with rural Deputies on the Government side who have not got the message through to the Minister on the damage and depredation this will do. This legislation will compound an already extremely difficult situation. The social structure in rural communities is under major pressure. This legislation will be the final nail in the coffin of rural areas and rural towns. It will destroy a social fabric we have had for generations. The current legislation makes it illegal for people to drink more than certain prohibited limits. Fianna Fáil introduced mandatory testing and supported legislation which decreased the alcohol limit to one of the lowest in Europe. This is a point on which we need to have some emphasis.

The latest proposal from the Minister, Deputy Ross, is to introduce automatic disqualification for three months for those found driving with a blood alcohol level of between 50 mg and 80 mg. Automatic disqualification for a person in rural Ireland in most cases means the loss of their employment also. At present, this offence is punishable by three penalty points provided the driver is not a learner or a professional driver and has not been found guilty of the same offence within the previous three years. The Minister is portraying the Bill as a catch-all Bill that would prevent more people from drinking and driving. As I said at the outset, no one condones drink-driving, but in our view if the existing legislation was properly enforced, it would be more than adequate.

There needs to be stronger enforcement of existing laws as well as ways to address the full range of causes of deaths on roads. Research confirms that drivers with a blood alcohol content of between 51 mg and 80 mg make up a very small proportion of the number of fatal collisions. Obviously, none of us want to see any fatal collision. Even one is too many. A report by the RSA on the years from 2008 to 2012 showed 4.6% of cases involved a level of alcohol. Overall, only 11% of cases cited alcohol as a contributory factor. In half of the cases covered in the report, drivers had a blood alcohol content of more than 200 mg per 100 ml, which is four times the legal limit.

Education and enforcement of existing laws combined is where progress on the issue can be made. In this regard, Ireland is a long way behind. We do not have a mandatory module in schools on the dangers of drink-driving, despite the fact a disproportionate number of fatal collisions involving alcohol involve drivers under the age of 25. In 44% of cases in the RSA report, drivers were not wearing seatbelts, highlighting the need for stronger enforcement and awareness. The Government has proposals on increasing the number of Garda checkpoints. Given the recent breathalyser test issue, the public needs to know the Government is serious about a Garda presence on our roads to prevent and detect drink-driving and decrease speeding, which is a major contributory factor in collisions.

Most fatal collisions where alcohol is a contributory factor involved drivers whose blood alcohol level is higher than 100 mg. These drivers should face much higher sanctions. Evidence suggests that closing these loopholes and strengthening provisions would be a far more effective means of saving lives. We propose the current penalty points sanction be increased from three to five and that the fine be doubled to €500. We also support increasing penalties for those found driving with a blood alcohol level in excess of 100 mg, as these drivers are responsible for eight out of ten fatal road collisions involving alcohol. We also support increasing penalties for those breaking a driving disqualification who account for approximately one fifth of fatal road collisions.

Clearly, we need to do more to reduce the incidence of drink-driving on our roads. Increasing the number of gardaí doing checkpoints must be part of this. The real issue is those who are well over the legal limit of 50 mg. In the in-depth study conducted by the RSA on the role of alcohol in fatal collisions between 2008 and 2012, it found alcohol was a factor in approximately 29% of fatal collisions. In eight of out ten of these cases, the blood alcohol content was more than 100 mg per 100 ml. In five out of ten cases, the blood alcohol level was more than 200 mg per 100 ml.

These are the drivers the Minister must pursue if he really wishes to reduce the number of people killed on our roads. Our penalties for driving with blood alcohol levels above 100 mg are low compared with those in the rest of Europe.

At present, a condition for a learner driver permit is that the driver must be accompanied by a qualified driver. When a learner driver is identified as unaccompanied, he or she will receive, in the first instance, a fixed charge notice with a fine of €80 and two penalty points. If the learner driver does not pay the fixed charge and is subsequently convicted in court, he or she faces a fine of €2,000 for a first offence, €2,000 for a second or subsequent offence and €2,000 and up to three months in prison for a third or subsequent offence within a 12-month period. He or she will also receive four penalty points. In December 2016, the Road Traffic Act was amended to make it an offence for the owner of a car to allow a learner driver to drive his or her car without a qualified driver present. The Minister is now seeking to commence this part of the Act under the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017, which we will support. Of 100 fatalities on Irish roads up to October 2017, 13 were learner drivers and 11 of them were unaccompanied. Over the five years of 2012 to 2016, an average of 30 learner drivers were involved in serious or fatal road collisions. Unfortunately, 42 of these were fatal road crashes.

There are many reasons for fatal crashes on our roads. Putting people who are found to have blood alcohol levels of between 50 mg and 80 mg off the road will not reduce the number of fatal crashes on roads, but it will destroy the social fabric of rural Ireland. As I said, nobody wishes to see a fatal road crash. Arriving at the scene of a serious crash is something that lives with a person for a long time. However, the Minister is not taking the correct route. This will do untold damage to the social fabric of rural Ireland. The mental health issues that will arise after its enactment are immense. Unfortunately, when we lose that rural social fabric, it will be gone for ever. I plead with the Government to think carefully about the damage this legislation will do to rural areas.

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