Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for his comments. However, I believe there would be tremendous public support for compulsory testing of people at the scene of an accident, especially drivers. I understand that it would not be ethical to test a person in a life and death situation at the scene of a serious accident, but it should be done as often as possible rather than on a random basis. The public would like that policy. There was almost one death per day last year on the roads. More people were killed on the roads in the past nine years than in Northern Ireland since 1969. I do not know why there is not a bigger hue and cry in here every day about road deaths.

The other point I wish to make is about mandatory testing for drugs. In the UK, studies found that 59% of those surveyed had driven a vehicle after smoking cannabis, while 37% had driven after taking cocaine. I asked a colleague this morning about the effects of taking cocaine. Apparently, one feels invincible. We must keep up to date with other countries and we should put drug testing on the same level as alcohol testing in this Bill.