Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will start where I finished last night. I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I spoke about this Bill for approximately 15 minutes last night. It will have a big effect on rural Ireland. I do not think the Minister realises what rural Ireland is about and what it means. This drink-driving Bill will have an unnecessary effect on the everyday lives of people in small rural areas. There is no need for this. The existing legislation is strong enough. The Minister does not seem to take that on board. He lives in a big urban area in Dublin. He does not realise how people in rural Ireland live, the problems they face every day or what their situations are.

My party introduced mandatory testing and supported the legislation that decreased the alcohol limits. Our limits are some of the lowest in Europe, so why are we trying to do more? They are some of the lowest in Europe so we have already led the way. Why is the Minister trying to go further and make ordinary people suffer more? The latest proposal from the Minister is to introduce automatic disqualification for three months for those driving with a blood alcohol level of between 50 mg and 80 mg per 100 ml. This offence is currently punishable with three penalty points, provided the driver is not a learner or professional driver and has not previously been found guilty of the same offence. As I said last night, the legislation is already in place to control this but it needs to be implemented. That is the point I am trying to get across to the Minister. These draconian measures he is introducing will make the situation worse and make the penalties more severe. He is forgetting about ordinary people who are trying to live ordinary lives in rural communities. He is upsetting the whole social fabric of those communities.

The Minister is portraying this as a catch-all Bill that will prevent more people from drinking and driving. Our party does not condone drink-driving. I said that last night. Nor are we prisoners of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, as the Minister has incorrectly alleged. I also said that last night. I am a rural Deputy and standing up for my people in Carlow-Kilkenny does not mean that I am representing the vintners. I am not; I am representing the people who voted for and elected me. It is important to think about that aspect.

There needs to be stronger enforcement of existing laws, as well as an examination of ways to address the full range of causes of road deaths. This was highlighted by a recent "Prime Time" programme, which found that the current legislation governing drink driving is not enforced consistently. That was proven on a programme on RTÉ on Monday night last. I hope the Minister saw it. I saw the programme and I took a lot of comfort from it. There is a huge body of road legislation dating back to 1961 that contains a number of anomalies and inconsistencies. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, both committed to consolidating this legislation during their respective terms as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. This was never achieved, however. In the interim, there continue to be huge disparities in the penalties that apply to drink-driving offences in court. It says everything about the Minister's real approach to road safety that he has taken more than half a year to commence provisions relating to learner drivers following their successful passage by the Dáil last year. If the Minister was serious about protecting road users, this would simply not have been the case.

Research confirms that drivers with a blood alcohol limit of between 50 mg and 80 mg per 100 ml make up a very small portion of the number of fatal collisions. This is specified in the Fatal Collisions 2008-2012 report of the Road Safety Authority. Just 4.6% of cases involved this level of alcohol. In half of the cases in which alcohol was cited as a contributory factor, the drivers had blood alcohol levels of more than 200 mg per 100 ml, four times the legal limit.

I can read all I like and I can refer to all the statistics all I like. All I am telling the Minister is that rural Ireland is exceptional. I come from rural Ireland and I represent rural people. The Minister does not see the difference. He lives in Dublin and does not see the problems in rural Ireland. I ask him to reconsider this Bill and to consider from where we come.

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