Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

Yes, I have been told that verbally but I have not got it in writing. I expect to get the letter soon. It would make a big difference if people could use it.

Senator Heffernan mentioned the issue of drug driving, which greatly concerns me. The road traffic (no. 3) Bill will strengthen the provisions relating to the evidential test people must undergo for drug driving impairment. Essentially, it will be similar to what one sees on American television where people are asked to walk along a line or do various exercises to ensure they are not under the influence of drugs. I anticipate it will be implemented next year. There is no reliable technology yet for breathalysing a person at the roadside for drugs, but it is the case that blood tested for alcohol is also tested for drugs at the same time. In most cases where people are drug driving they have also consumed alcohol, so if we do not get them for one, we get them for the other.

The Road Safety Authority contacts all schools and makes its services available for carrying out education programmes in them. It has used one method very effectively in some cases whereby it brings a car to the school and puts the children in the car so they can experience what it is like to be in an overturned car, which is not very nice. It appears to be quite effective. I am not familiar with the authority bringing victims into schools. There probably would be sensitivities surrounding that. Some victims have been willing to appear at conferences and to speak in the media. This has been very helpful, especially in television advertisements.

Senator Reilly mentioned the issue of fire brigades and ambulances. That is not directly within my remit so I will have to give it some thought. We must be careful about it. Ideally, one would send a fire brigade and ambulance to every collision but that would be extremely inefficient because in most cases it would not be necessary. There is a proposal in the existing road safety strategy to combine fire brigade and ambulance control under a single control. That has not yet been done as they are under separate management.

That is something the Cabinet sub-committee on road safety will have to discuss.

We are working on mutual recognition of penalty points for certain offences with Northern Ireland under the North-South Ministerial Council. The initial plan, between myself and the Minister for the Environment, Mr. Attwood MLA, is to implement it on a pilot basis for a small number of offences where they are pretty much the same north and south of the Border. We want to do that quite soon. It can be difficult because the penalty points system in the Republic of Ireland is different from the one in Northern Ireland, and is very different from the one in France, for example. One cannot necessarily apply equivalency if the points are not the same and are not applied for the same reasons, but we will work through that over time.

Senator Henry brought up some valid broader issues relating to alcohol. It is wrong to have this debate only about road safety and not address it in the context of alcohol. I do not know whether a ban on below cost selling would work because no one seems able to define the cost of alcohol. The alternative, or one that people put forward, is to have a minimum price and there is probably some sense in that. My own view is that it would be a good idea but it is not something that falls under my remit. I can see the sense in it. It seems that the sale of low-cost alcohol or very cheap beer and wine cannot be good for us under any heading.

I must come back to Senator Colm Burke on the issue of whether a person in hospital can retain the sample. I assume a person can. In my capacity as a general practitioner, once or twice I had to go to the Garda station and take the sample and it was always the case that the person from whom the sample was being taken would get a sample of his or her own so that he or she could have it tested independently. I imagine, or at least I would assume, it is the case that if the sample is taken in a hospital, the person gets to take a sample to have it tested by a laboratory of his or her choice, but I must double-check that. My office will be in touch with Senator Burke directly on that matter.

Senator Conway asked about things we can do to assist publicans in rural areas to provide transport. If the transport is provided for free, for example, a courtesy bus or even the publican driving people home, it is not required that he or she have a PSV licence. It is not particularly difficult to get a PSV or taxi licence these days. In fact, the number of taxi licences is falling because of the large supply of taxis. I would certainly consider in the run-up to the budget whether there are things we could do to incentivise publicans to provide transport or make it easier for them to do so, but there are problems with all of these because then, potentially, one would be giving them a competitive advantage over someone whose business is providing transport. One must bear that in mind as well.

I mentioned previously that road traffic legislation is the most challenged in the courts. For that reason, my Department is constantly reviewing existing legislation to determine if further strengthening is necessary. Even since the publication of this Bill two weeks ago, we have identified some issues that I propose to address with a small number of minor amendments on Committee Stage. It is my wish to have this Bill enacted as quickly as possible in order that I can commence its provisions very soon. The stronger the legislation, the greater the chances of reducing death and injury on our roads. No doubt the Bill will contribute in this regard. I thank Senators for facilitating the introduction of the Bill and I look forward to our discussions on Committee Stage.