Results 5,621-5,640 of 26,014 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is Dr. Bedford in any way alarmed by the increase in drug-driving testing by the Garda on the roads?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: That is the key. In Dr. Bedford's view and given the trends we are seeing for 2020 and 2021, it does not surprise him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Evidential breath tests have gone down significantly as a proportion of the overall tests from 40% to 24%, that is, from 5,372 to 3,278 in a year. Why is that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: When the tests come to the bureau, how quickly are they turned around?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Why?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is that all done in-house?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Does Dr. Bedford believe the bureau has adequate resources?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: While everything is relative, does Dr. Bedford regard alcohol or drugs like cannabis and cocaine as the more dangerous in terms of driving?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: In terms of the impact it has on the driver themselves and their capacity to drive.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: I take the point. To go back to Dr. Bedford's thoughts on cannabis, there is a view in many quarters that cannabis has uses for medicinal purposes. Has Dr. Bedford a contrary view on cannabis?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Dr. Bedford sees no uses for it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Explain that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is that small?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is Dr. Bedford surprised it is a small number?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: This is something on which we have to do further work. We will come back to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is there a higher concentration in the tests?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: You can openly smell it. It is quite prevalent.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: I ask Dr. Bedford to explain that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is that in other countries?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: On a slightly unrelated point, did the Medical Bureau of Road Safety detect heroine in any of the blood samples it took in drug drive testing?