Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all the words after "That" and substitute the following:

Seanad Éireann

—notes that Government policy since 1998 on road safety has provided a framework for the delivery of reductions in road deaths on a sustained basis;

—notes the commitment of the Minister for Transport, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda Commissioner to advance a further major extension of the operation of the penalty points system as quickly as possible;

—notes that the Government has decided to pursue arrangements for appropriate private sector involvement in the deployment and operation of speed cameras;

—notes the ongoing efforts of the Minister for Transport, together with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Attorney General, to extend the basis for roadside breath testing;

—acknowledges the progress being made by the Garda Síochána in increasing the strength of the Garda traffic corps in line with the commitments made by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform;

—notes that the Minister for Transport is pursuing legislative proposals for the establishment of the road safety authority and that the new authority will have a central role in the co-ordination of the delivery of road safety programmes, and notes that the Minister will provide a legislative basis for the introduction of compulsory initial practical training for motorcyclists, which will be overseen by the RSA; and

—acknowledges and supports the Government's continued commitment to the delivery of the policy initiatives set out in the Road Safety Strategy 2004 to 2006 and its continued efforts to realise the target set in the strategy to reduce road deaths to a total of not more than 300 per annum by the end of 2006."

I welcome the Minister and the opportunity to discuss this important issue. I compliment Fine Gael on this motion, which we have been talking about on the Order of Business for a while. Every opportunity to discuss road safety and deaths on our roads allows us to further highlight this serious issue. The most important factor is trying to bring about a culture change, which as everybody knows, happens slowly. The Government has an important role in defining policy and ensuring that the proper legislative framework is put in place; the proper enforcement exists; and there is a network to follow the strategy that has been agreed, as Senator Hayes pointed out, from an all-party perspective. Notwithstanding the efforts made, we have seen a continuation of the increase in road deaths this year. In 2003 the EU Ministers with responsibility for transport met in Verona and declared that "the huge amount of human victims on the roads is too high a price and that, the situation being such, the eradication of this scourge is a top priority on their political agenda. Any delay in action would mean further irreparable losses in terms of human lives". That is an indictment of all elements of the operation including the political system, enforcement bodies and the individuals who have failed to observe the law. As legislators, we have an important role to ensure legislation exists and that we have the resources for enforcement.

By and large we are dealing with adult vehicle owners, most of whom are bright and intelligent workers. However, they fail to contribute to society in terms of their duty of care, not just to themselves, but to the people among whom they live. It is critical we address this issue of the people in society who continue to have scant regard for laws and life. People should have greater respect for their lives and those of others and we must address this lack through education and culture change.

This has been a difficult year in terms of road safety. Up to Monday of this week, some 359 people had died this year as a result of road accidents, 24 more than by the same date last year. Addressing this situation requires a sustained and strategic approach by the Government and a commitment from all our citizens.

Senator Brian Hayes outlined well the situation relating to random breath testing. One of the major causes of death on our roads is drink driving. Despite promotional campaigns, enforcement efforts and severe legal repercussions, people continue to make the decision to drink and drive. This cannot be allowed to continue. The introduction of random breath testing has dominated media coverage on the issue of road safety of late. This has come about because the Government has wanted to move on this area for some time. International experience has shown some phenomenal results, particularly in the state of Victoria in Australia which has what it calls the "booze-buster bus" where people suspected of drink driving can undergo random breath testing. The processing is done in the large mobile vehicle on the side of the road.

The road safety strategy provides that random breath testing should be in place before the end of 2006. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, has raised the difficulty of introducing such a policy with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, of which I am a member. He has outlined the constitutional issue and the advice from the Attorney General; the parliamentary legal adviser attended the committee today in private session. I will not go into the details of the discussion. The committee has sought further legal advice from her and, if necessary, from an outside legal adviser with a view to getting a clear opinion on where we are headed with this issue.

There is a body of evidence that suggests that the bodily integrity issue, in terms of being asked to produce a random breath test, is not proportional, and under the Constitution may create a difficulty. We must try to get beyond this legal point. I do not consider being asked to blow into a bag invasive, considering the consequences in terms of the destruction a person over the alcohol limit can cause. We must be careful how we proceed on this. As the Minister is aware from his deliberations, there is no point in enacting legislation that will be challenged in the courts.

The one area of legislation most frequently challenged is legislation associated with drink driving. Certain people believe they are not committing a criminal offence by drink driving and will challenge that in every court. These people usually have considerable resources available to them. We have seen many challenges in the past, and no doubt will see many more. Whatever we do now must be cognisant of the Constitution and ensure we are not left in a situation where the laws passed in the House will be ridiculed. That would undermine the work done here. The people affected by drink driving and the road deaths associated with it will have little regard for anything that is done within the environs of the Legislature if we enact laws that can be overturned.

I agree with the sentiment of what Senator Brian Hayes said in terms of the necessity for and acceptance of random breath testing. Recognising that, we must look at the issue from the constitutional point of view. Whatever we do, we need to move quickly. If we can legislate to give gardaí greater powers to impose roadside breath tests, the purpose will be to change the climate and culture among the public at large towards the practice of drink driving. This brings us back to what I said earlier about the need for culture change as well as education. In the unfortunate event that we cannot legislate, we should remind ourselves that as matters stand, gardaí may request a breath sample where they form the opinion that an intoxicant has been consumed. This has created a difficulty in the past. Some cases have gone through the courts where there was no issue as to whether the person was intoxicated, but a challenge was made as to how gardaí formed the opinion the person was drunk. This happens despite the test indicating the person was at three times the limit. Some people will go into court and fight the issue on the basis of how the opinion was formed. I do not wish to involve the Judiciary in this regard, but one must question where the balance lies. This is something we need to address.

I do not wish to concentrate on drink driving, but it and speed combine to cause many of our accidents. Many of us saw the programme on anti-social behaviour the other night and saw how high speed cars were involved in that behaviour. The Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Callely, has a view on how these can be controlled through the NCT and how we might move away from a culture where people have an over-inflated pride in their car and in souped-up models.

There is a club effect which involves these people racing their cars day and night. This is seen even in rural areas. On many Monday mornings we can see tyre marks associated with handbrake turns. This culture has developed on the back of a strong economy. It is not so long since we grew up, but the type of money required for these cars was not available to 17 and 18 year olds then. Now they have high-powered cars to race in at weekends whereas we were lucky if we had a bad bicycle to get us home from the disco. The situation has changed and is creating a problem which should be addressed in conjunction with the other areas.