Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I endorse Senator O'Neill's comments. The potential of people with no licences being caught in the system was bizarre. I will revert to that matter. As always, I welcome the Minister to the House. I was delighted to hear that he had accepted amendments from Deputies in the Lower House.

Senator O'Neill referred to cases being thrown out. While we do not discuss individual cases, Mr. Greg Harkin of the Irish Independent and Mr. Stephen Maguire of the Irish Examiner reported on a case being thrown out because three locations were included on the same authorisation form for mandatory alcohol testing. We must address such issues. Why should gardaí be compelled to stay in one place if nothing is happening there? It seems strange and that judgment should be examined.

Another issue arising from judgments is that the law does not allow for multiple choices for gardaí. This matter should be addressed so as to give gardaí flexibility. It is also the case that alcohol testing locations must be decided by an inspector. Only 2% of gardaí are inspectors and only 1.5% are above that rank. If we extended this provision to sergeants, we would add a further 14%. Under the current rulings, however, approximately 98% of our great Garda force has been locked out of implementing measures that the Houses and its political parties all want implemented. Before we reach the next Stage, perhaps we might examine this matter to determine whether a fear about levels of seniority when the legislation was introduced led to the requirement for inspectors. This matter seems to relate to today's two newspaper reports on court cases in Donegal. Imagine the 11,053 gardaí who implement this legislation trying to track down 262 inspectors, who are not on duty at the same time.

I am as concerned as the Minister about the increase in the number of road fatalities last year following many years of improvements. I support the extra penalty points that he is introducing. I note that speeding accounts for 77% of penalty points, but next in line is the use of mobile telephones at 14%. I agree with increasing the number of penalty points in this regard, as it distracts from driving safely. However, this side of the House - I am speaking on behalf of Senator Crown in particular - has pointed out that if dialling a number and listing to a telephone is a distraction, finding a packet of cigarettes, lighting one, puffing on it, throwing it away and wondering what part of the car or person is on fire must be an even greater distraction.

We have the support of the Minister for Health but not his officials. We have introduced the Bill approximately three times. Perhaps the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, would look at this as a road safety measure. While somebody in the Department of Health appears to believe a person has a constitutional right to drive around in a car full of smoke, it must have some safety implications. Officials in the Department of Health continue to reject our best attempts and those of the Minister, Deputy Reilly, to implement that.

The alcolizer introduced by the Matthews bus company in Dundalk is a terrific invention. I note that statistics in respect of fatalities in this area would not be severe, the number of accidents involving heavy goods vehicles and buses appear to have declined dramatically, which is to be encouraged. On vehicle testing, two serious crashes, one on Wellington Quay and the other in Kentstown, appeared to be the result of vehicle deficiencies. Anything that can be done to strengthen regulation in this area would be welcome. I believe insurance companies should come on board and assist in part funding the safety programme. We all want to see reductions in this area.

Overloading and seat belt offences also need to be addressed. Another issue that arises is that of towing of vehicles which are wider than the vehicle by which they are being towed. I came across an accident once which was caused by a jeep towing a wider vehicle. The accident resulted in serious fatalities. Is the towing of vehicles sufficiently regulated? In some countries, the vehicle being towed must have a separate registration from that of the vehicle towing it.

A briefing from the Oireachtas Library service indicates that the RSA statistics indicate that learner permit holders accounted for 4.6% of all penalty points issued in 2010. However, as stated by Senator O'Neill, this statistic relates to only 10% of vehicles. I agree with Senator O'Neill that the younger generation is more safety conscious and more responsible than my generation. I appreciate what the Minister is trying to do. However, the document prepared for us would indicate that learner permit holders are not a problem in that their share of penalty points is less than the share of licences held by them.

The 2012 statistics include peculiar information including: Sunday was the most dangerous day on which to drive; it was three times more dangerous to drive on Sunday than on Tuesday, which is only 48 hours later; and June was the most dangerous month for driving and November was the safest month. That is counter-intuitive. What happens to people in June? Are people more careful in November when the weather is bad? Perhaps we have a Sunday and summer driver problem and these are the issues we should be looking at in the context of reducing accident numbers.

I compliment the Minister on what he is doing. I support the taking of a blood specimen and believe it should be produced in evidence whether or not the person from who it is taken agrees with that or not. Perhaps there are human rights aspects to this but we are trying to address a problem which has resulted in the loss of thousands of lives over many years. There is an onus on county engineers to control access to the main and secondary road networks. People cannot be allowed to just pop out onto all national primary routes. As stated by Senator O'Neill these are the routes on which accident rates are high. Perhaps the planning authorities, when planning for future housing developments and other facilities, ought to separate them from too many access points. I again compliment the Minister. I wish him well and assure him that he has our support.

We will seriously be considering amendments. I am very pleased he has created the precedent by accepting the ones tabled by Deputies McEntee, Lawlor and others in the Dáil. The Minister is very welcome and he has, of course, our total support in this matter.