I welcome the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, and his officials to the meeting and thank them for their attendance. The Minister may wish to make some opening remarks before the sub-committee commences its consideration of the Bill.
Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2011: Committee Stage
I will make some brief initial remarks. First, this Bill represents the eighth item of road safety legislation to be considered by the Oireachtas in the past ten years. There are no new initiatives in the Bill. In some cases it simply updates existing road traffic legislation and in others it strengthens and tightens a number of existing provisions. The main provisions relate to the mandatory breath testing of drivers by the Garda in certain circumstances at the lower blood alcohol concentrations levels I hope to commence at the bank holiday weekend. The provisions for the lower alcohol levels are included in the Road Traffic Act 2010 and as I stated, I intend to commence the relevant sections of the Bill in the near future.
Another provision in the Bill relates to the testing of drivers who have been removed to hospital as a result of a collision at the lower alcohol levels. Once again, the provision for testing in hospitals already exists in legislation and this Bill simply provides for testing at the new lower levels. Many of the other provisions in the Bill relate to technical points or minor amendments to the existing Road Traffic Acts. As I have stated previously, road traffic legislation is the most challenged in the courts and the Government is constantly re-examining the Acts to identify and strengthen any perceived weaknesses.
On preparing the necessary commencement of provisions for the 2010 Act, a question has arisen in respect of one of the sections for commencement. My Department has requested the advice of the Attorney General's office on that matter. Depending on that advice, an amendment to this Bill may be required on Report Stage and I wish to give members notice of this in case it is necessary. As part of the Government's initiative in respect of legislation, I discussed the general scheme of a more extensive Bill with the Oireachtas joint committee early in July. The Chairman subsequently sent me the joint committee's comments and recommendations, which I am considering in the context of the next Bill. While I have replied in detail to those suggestions, I only posted the letter today so the Chairman probably has not received it yet. However, it is on its way.
It came at lunchtime.
In view of the urgency I attach to the introduction of mandatory breath testing at the lower levels, I decided to extract the relevant provisions from the general scheme and proceed with them as a separate legislative item, which is the Bill before members today. I propose to publish another Bill before the end of the year to address the other issues discussed with the joint committee.
Sections 1 to 10, inclusive, agreed to.
Title agreed to.
Bill reported without amendment.