Results 261-280 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: I hear what the Minister of State is saying. Is it his view that an authorisation issued by an inspector to place checkpoints on the N11 between Wicklow and Wexford, at any time between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. for the foreseeable future, is valid?

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: It does up to a point. I have not had the benefit of the debate in the Joint Committee on Transport. I assume there was some reason for trying to limit the time and place. If that decision was taken, the power in the Bill is very general. I want to get a sense from the Minister of State as to whether he wants the power to be that general, whether he wants authorisation to be given by an...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: That is not my intention. I am not trying to pin the Minister of State to specifics. I am trying to get a sense of what he envisages to be the purpose of this section. Does he envisage its provisions would be applied for special occasions such as a bank holiday weekend and at other times when there is a risk of people abusing alcohol and driving? Does he perceive that to be the purpose of the...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: This brings me back to the central question, namely, why bother with this measure. Why should an authorisation be required in the first instance? If the intention of the Minister of State is that the testing should be genuinely random and general, why require an inspector to issue an authorisation in advance specifying a time and place? Why not simply give power to gardaí to test randomly?

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: I wish to revisit this issue one more time and I promise I will leave it at that.

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: This is probably the most important section of the Bill and I am sure we will not give the other sections the same treatment. I assume, although I do not know if this is the case, that the logic behind that legal advice was that the inspector would on some rational basis authorise a checkpoint for some particular reason and, therefore, it would not be random in that sense. I assume that is...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: Senator Paddy Burke has raised an interesting issue. The Minister of State will correct me if I am wrong in saying that the current legislation provides that if somebody refuses to give a sample, the penalties mirror those which would have applied had the person been over the alcohol limit, which include disqualification. In that case one can be disqualified if one refuses to give a sample....

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: Why do we need to create this new offence? If the Minister of State envisages that in all circumstances when one refuses at the side of the road one will be brought to the station where the additional penalty of disqualification is available, why create an offence of refusal at the side of the road? Perhaps I am not making myself clear. At the moment we are saying, in theory, that somebody...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: While I do not disagree with the Minister of State, I do not understand why there is this two-tier level of offences. The subsection under discussion prohibits non-co-operation and provides for a penalty of up to €5,000 and possible imprisonment. As I understand Senator Paddy Burke's amendment, he says if one is guilty of that offence one should also forfeit one's licence because that is...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: I want to explore the notion of the "where" rather than the "when" in the context of this section. There is no definition of "checkpoint" in the section, but it seems clear from any reasonable reading that it must be in a public place. Therefore, I assume it could not, for example, be in a pub car park or somewhere that is not public. I presume the Minister of State will correct my...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: Is it clear that the individual must be driving the car and must be stopped? Is there any possibility a person might get into his or her car in a pub car park and a garda would come and try to exercise this power?

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: What if the person is parked on the side of the road and gets into his or her car, can a garda approach him or her and use the power? In that case there is no checkpoint as such and the car was not stopped. The Minister of State may be assured there will be litigation in this regard.

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: My understanding of the current legislation is that it is possible for a garda to apply a test if he or she suspects an individual has been drinking, but that the power to randomly test cannot apply in those circumstances.

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: I support the important amendment tabled by Senator Paddy Burke. My understanding of the system as set out in this section is that one will be served with a fixed charge notice and will be informed subsequently that one has been automatically disqualified. Obviously, this measure is intended to be more lenient than a normal prosecution and, consequently, one is only eligible to be so treated...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: Before Members finish their discussion on this topic, I wish to explore further the important issue raised by Senator Dooley. I refer to the amount of information available at any given time about disqualified people. Are there local databases or a national database which contain such information? If so, how recent is such a database and how much is known? It is important that the Garda...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: Is it available at present?

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: Is it possible for a garda to check whether a person has been disqualified within the past five years?

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: A number of issues arise in the context of the section, one of which has been touched on. I am a little concerned about subsection (4), which in effect allows the Minister make regulations providing for the prohibition of certain devices. In effect, this subsection allows the Minister to create an offence and I wonder whether legally that is the right approach. The argument over the past year...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: Perhaps I did not make myself sufficiently clear. I was looking to explore the difference in approach between subsection (1) and subsection (4). Subsection (1) provides for a specific offence of holding a mobile phone and a later subsection outlines the penalty, but subsection (4) is simply enabling. Why is it being done in an enabling way? Why does he not create a general offence of using an...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: Is it fair to say that subsection (4) is simply a back-up plan?