John Ellis (Fianna Fail)

If the Senator is prepared to give way, I wish to finish my contribution. I thank the Senator. I did not realise it took so long to get from the fourth floor to the Chamber.

I referred earlier to testing on the morning after. On the issue of professional drivers being subject to a different set of criteria from ordinary drivers, I wonder what will be the legal consequences of that when challenged. I believe they will have to be common for both. I might be wrong but I asked somebody in the legal profession who told me that while it might be provided for in the law, common justice would mean they should be equal for all. I am not a lawyer but this should be examined. Somebody with a concentration of between 50 and 80 gets three points and it was originally proposed that the points remain on their licence for five years. There was a suggestion that this might go back to three years and I see that this has been agreed. I believe it should only be three years. It is a warning, and if they do not heed the warning, they can understand the consequences. It is a great thing to get a warning, have the opportunity to get one's act together and move on. I am delighted the Minister decided to bring it back to three years.

We all welcome the mutual recognition of penalty points between the UK, Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, the same question was raised with me about this as was raised regarding the professional drivers. Where does this stand under EU law? If it was common across the EU, everybody would probably be happy. However, can one legislate for this under EU law without being subject to challenge in the European Court? I accept that a person would require enormous financial resources to challenge something like this in the European Court. In the context of the media, the right to privacy is more protected under European law than under Irish law but to take a case on that ground one would first have to go through the Irish court system, which few can afford, to secure one's right to privacy. This question was raised with me and I do not know whether it is legitimate but can one have this system for Ireland and the UK without it applying across the rest of Europe? I am not in a legal position to know but I believe there are certain provisions in European law which might cause problems in implementing the system.

We have had tremendous success in reducing the carnage on the roads. The Garda is to be complimented. In many instances, the gardaí take a very objective approach to problems. If they see somebody leaving a premises who they consider to have consumed quite an amount of alcohol, they will tell the person to give them the keys or to leave the car and go home. People will accept that advice. In the old days, certain gardaí preferred to allow the guy to travel down the road before taking them into the station, although at that time the person did not get banned from driving so it did not matter a great deal. It is something on which the gardaí must be complimented. They take a very objective role when dealing with these problems.

The problem of dangerous driving worries everybody. There is a certain amount of dangerous driving on the roads but some laws can lead to a person being capable of being charged for dangerous driving. I saw an example of this on my way to the House today. A car was being driven on a motorway at 30 miles per hour. There was a truck behind the car but the driver had to break the law to overtake that car. The guy travelling at 30 miles per hour was a greater menace than a fellow who would drive up the road at 90 miles per hour. The lorry driver had to break the law to overtake that driver because lorry drivers are not supposed to leave the inside lane. This issue should be examined. I am aware that the Minister has discussed it with the National Roads Authority. It must be dealt with. It is most unfair that if there was an over-zealous garda in a squad car behind the lorry, the lorry driver could be prosecuted and receive two penalty points. The effect of that for a professional driver is very serious.

Perhaps there is a case to be made for a minimum speed on motorways. It might sound funny but a case can be made for it. The guy travelling at 30 miles per hour is a total menace; he will cause chaos. In addition, one is not allowed to drive agricultural vehicles on motorways because they cannot travel at more than 50 km per hour, although some can do 70km per hour, while motorbikes of a certain cubic centimetre, CC, capacity are also not allowed on them. There is a need to consider having a minimum speed on motorways. I am not suggesting it for regional or county roads, just motorways.