Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 204: To ask the Minister for Transport if an express consent was given to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, pursuant to section 38(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1968, for the supply by same of an apparatus for indicating the presence of alcohol in the breath as opposed to the consent prescribing the form of statements produced by the apparatus which was given to the Minister of State. [9624/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Section 38(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1968, as amended by the Road Traffic Act 1994, provides that the Medical Bureau of Road Safety may, with the consent of the Minister, arrange for the supply and testing of apparatus for indicating the presence of alcohol in the breath and apparatus for determining the concentration of alcohol in the breath.

The prescribed form of the statement produced by an apparatus to which the Deputy is referring relates to the statement produced by an apparatus for determining the concentration of alcohol in the breath, that is, evidential breath-testing instruments. The Road Traffic Act 1994 provided for the introduction of a scheme of evidential breath testing, EBT, based on the use of apparatus for determining the concentration of alcohol in a sample of breath. The Act provides that drivers may be required to undergo a breath test in a Garda station instead of a blood or urine test following arrest for drink driving.

The evidential breath-testing system was introduced with effect from November 1999. That reflected a commitment given in the Government's Road Safety Strategy 1998-2002. Regulations to prescribe the form of the statements produced by the apparatus were made by the then Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government on 20 October 1999. The system was formally launched by the then Minister of State on 24 November 1999.

In addition, the Minister provides for the determination of the funding allocation to the bureau. Such funding includes approval to provide for the supply and testing of the relevant apparatus as required.