John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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38. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport further to previous parliamentary questions and in view of the recent increase in road fatalities, if further consideration has been given to the proposal made by the Brendan’s Law Campaign to introduce mandatory penalties for drink drivers in fatal accidents and to automatically suspend the licence of a driver involved in a fatal accident who subsequently fails a breathalyser test; if he will acknowledge that several other countries in the European Union already follow these stipulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16520/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The key to reducing injuries and fatalities on our roads is to continue to change driver behaviour. To date this year (24 April), there have been 50 fatalities recorded on our roads.  While the number of fatalities is down by 7 on this date last year, each life lost on our roads is a tragedy and a lot of work remains to be done to further reduce the number of fatalities on our roads and we can all play our part in achieving this aim.

There have been a number of important changes to the law in relation to drink driving offences in our road traffic legislation over the past number of years.  The introduction of Mandatory Alcohol Testing (MAT) has been a very effective intervention to improve road safety.  We have also introduced a reduction in the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) level for drivers and all drivers involved in road traffic collisions where a serious injury has occurred are now obliged to provide a preliminary breath specimen.

The Deputy may recall that all convictions for drink driving offences in the District Court carry a mandatory disqualification for a minimum of 6 months.  More serious offences give rise to higher minimum penalties. It is a matter for the Courts to make a disqualification order preventing a person from validly holding a drivers licence for a period of time.  The proposal to automatically suspend the licence of a driver involved in a fatal accident who subsequently fails a breathalyser test in advance of a conviction in Court cannot be considered given the rights of citizens to a fair hearing in accordance with the principles of natural justice.

I have no plans to amend the current system at this time.  However, due to the nature of road traffic legislation and the constantly shifting circumstances, road traffic legislation is always a work in progress.  The Road Traffic Bill 2015 is currently being drafted and the focus will be on strengthening the law in relation to driving under the influence of drugs.  New legislative provisions will allow for An Garda Siochána to test drivers for drugs at the roadside thereby mirroring the established procedures for mandatory roadside testing for alcohol.  This is in addition to the introduction of roadside impairment tests which were introduced late last year which provide An Garda Siochána with an important tool in enforcing the law against drug driving.