Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes, but to get the penalty points the people in this case with a particular blood-alcohol level must be breathalysed and brought to a Garda station and go on the special machine.

Of course, that is the case and we must have trust and faith in that system, but we have no faith in the system. The people with the responsibility to stop drivers on the road are members of the Garda, and they are doing their job. Somewhere in that office in Thurles, however, the figures grew like wild mushrooms. A grow house would not expand them as fast. It would be hilarious if it was not so serious. We have to have respect, understanding and fairness. Justice has to be done and be seen to be done. How can we have the increased penalties for the blood alcohol limit which the Minister is talking about when we have 380% exaggeration? How can we have any faith in this? We heard the RSA again at the weekend saying it cannot get figures from the Garda Síochána, which had been giving the RSA those figures for a while but which now does not give it any figures. Something is badly wrong in the system and I have to express my concerns on behalf of the people I represent in Tipperary.

There are many other areas of road safety. During the recent storm three people were killed. A friend of mine - cara liom - was killed by a falling tree, Michael Pyke from Ardfinnan, and two others also died. We have been pleading for years that every one of the trees on the roadside boundary should be cut back and no new planting should be done on motorways or anywhere else, and they should be required to be planted a fair distance back. If there is planning for a mast or other obstruction, for safety reasons it should be so many metres back from the road.

Deputies Danny Healy-Rae and Michael Collins have been in the committee in recent days trying to extend the hedge-cutting season because the roads are so dangerous, with restricted view and poor visibility. There are amendments in regard to cycling and the safety of cyclists. No one can cycle the roads in rural Ireland, and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows that as well as I. The briars grow out during the heat of June and July and the roads are almost closed in - dúnta. I am a member of Farm Contractors Ireland. Most tractors today have implements which might be 1.6 m or 1.8 m in front of the bonnet of the tractor, ag teacht amach ar an mbóthar, and trying to get out-----

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