Derek McDowell (Labour)

It would be a pity to allow this section to go by without some debate, even if that simply involves me expressing my concerns. This section aims to provide for a quick form of prosecution for people who have had a few pints. The limit of 100 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood equates to two or three pints, roughly, for the average male of reasonable stature. I understand that there are people, perhaps quite a few, who can drink a pint and a half and be totally incapable of driving. The bulk of people caught by the use of this section will have consumed a relatively small amount of alcohol, by the traditional Irish social definition. I am not saying they should not be prosecuted, I merely think we should keep our eyes wide open.

It is my understanding that, generally speaking, this offence is not prosecuted in large numbers at the moment. There are few prosecutions of people who have driven a vehicle with 80 mg to 100 mg of alcohol in their blood. I do not know why this is the case. It could be that the Garda is taking a pragmatic view and does not want to prosecute for such a level of alcohol consumption. It has been speculated that the techniques of measurement are not sufficiently sensitive to allow it be argued in court that a person has 85 ml, rather than 75 ml, of alcohol in his or her blood.

This Bill should be based on analysis and evidence. I would like to know the number of accidents that occur largely because of the consumption of this level of alcohol. How many people who have driven after drinking two to three pints have been prosecuted? We could have a more informed debate about the wisdom of providing for this sort of quickie mechanism if we had this information. This information has not been in the public arena heretofore and I have a funny feeling we will not get it in the near future. If this is the case then we should publicly acknowledge that this is a far more rigorous approach to the consumption of a level of alcohol that many people regard as normal and acceptable and that this is being done without evidence that this amount of alcohol causes many accidents. I know it impairs judgment and that some people can be very drunk after very few beers but I am not convinced that we should introduce this level of strict liability for what are, largely, exceptional cases. I appreciate that this is not the politically correct thing to say, but it is a view, perhaps not articulated as often as it might be, which is very common in Ireland and which should be reflected in these Houses.