I wish to raise again with the Minister some points I made on Second Stage. I do not propose to repeat my arguments in detail. I asked the Minister to consider amending the Bill to permit the courts a measure of discretion in relation to the lower category of between 81 and 100 milligrammes. I made my argument under three headings. I said that as a matter of principle it is not helpful that the Oireachtas continuously makes laws providing for mandatory penalties and leaving the courts with no discretion. No two cases are ever the same. The purpose of the courts is to administer justice on the basis of the facts and evidence presented to them. As a matter of principle, I believe it is wrong to provide for mandatory penalties. I do not expect to be successful in having my proposal apply to the full range of penalties but it could be applied to the lower levels. The Minister of State dealt with that to a certain degree this morning. He said that mandatory sentences for drunk driving have been provided in legislation since about 1962.
My second point related to insurance cover. Experience has shown that when an endorsement or a driving ban has been imposed insurance companies have been applying insurance cost increases of between 100 and 150 per cent over a five year period. The Minister for State's answer was under two headings. He said that an increase in insurance costs was a recognised penalty and that a person must be conscious that he or she runs such a risk. That is one argument. However, that is no justification, particularly when there is no accident involved, for the insurance company imposing such penal increases. The Minister of State went on to say that another Minister of State is establishing a commission to look at the question of the cost of motor insurance in general.
The Minister of State did not refer to my third point, which dealt with those engaged in an errand of mercy. There must be discretion where such people are concerned. I mentioned the various categories yesterday. I offered my county as being a typical example of many rural counties. In west Clare one is 70 miles from a general hospital. Basically, one is 70 miles from an ambulance if there is an emergency and if a person must be brought to hospital. Such emergencies can occur at Christmas as well as during other periods. Let us assume that somebody who is obliging and who has no advance knowledge that this journey must be undertaken is called urgently after drinking one or two pints in the pub and is marginally over the limit when stopped at a checkpoint. Unless the garda at the checkpoint is prepared to apply discretion, it cannot be applied from that point on. Once the breathalyser test is given everything else falls into place. Even if that errand of mercy has been responsible for saving a life or two lives, no mitigating circumstances can be accepted by a court. That is an aspect of the issue that should be examined.
I offered other examples, including one involving a doctor. I might have misunderstood Senator Henry when she commented on the doctor who went out with "a few jars" on him to respond to a road accident because the nearest other doctor was ten miles away and was already tied up with another emergency. She said that the doctor could have been in difficulty with the Medical Council. If I understood her correctly, that was another example of the misunderstanding people can have of life in rural Ireland. That doctor was having a house party. Perhaps he had had a few drinks. He responded to a call and perhaps he saved lives by doing so. If he was not prepared to do that and if the next available doctor was 20 miles away and if a life had been lost, the community would have run him out of the parish and out of the area. Perhaps I misunderstood the Senator's point. However, if I did not, that is the type of misunderstanding that can be so hurtful.
My final point is relevant to the section. One of the factors that contributed to the mayhem was the morning-after checkpoint. The authorities say that this has been exaggerated and that it did not happen. It happened outside a factory in Shannon in my constituency. It also happened outside a factory in the industrial estate in Raheen in Limerick. I am reliably informed that it happened outside the sugar factory in Carlow. It has been said that only a small number of samples was sent for analysis. However, the presence of the checkpoint caused consternation and upheaval in the rural community. It was so serious that I was one of a number of publicans who put a minibus on the road. I believed it was the proper thing to do in the circumstances. However, people who were going to work the following morning would not come in to the pub on the minibus. In fact, I ended up carrying pioneers, although that was fair enough. Terror was created about the morning-after checkpoint among people who were going to work the following morning.
I wish to conclude, although I am probably exploiting my time limits on this matter.
