Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Recent research by the RSA indicates that 29% of drivers involved in fatal collisions had alcohol in their system. That is a statistic that we must take extremely seriously. We must try to resolve this problem, and the method by which we can seek to deter people from driving with alcohol in their system is to conduct a large number of breath tests on our roads. That is something that was recognised in the Crowe Horwath report which recommended that An Garda Síochána should be seeking to test 20% of the driving population annually. That is the only way to deter such behaviour. We need to ensure that more resources are allocated to the traffic corps, but since 2009 there has been a significant decline in the strength of the traffic corps in the Dublin metropolitan region. In 2009, a total of 156 members of An Garda Síochána were allocated to the traffic corps in that region, but by 2017 this had fallen to 105. That is a significant decline for which the Minister bears a responsibility.

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