Jim Higgins
Ceist:1 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if it is proposed to introduce drug testing of drivers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11565/98]
Ceisteanna — Questions. Priority Questions. - Drug Testing of Drivers.
It is an offence to drive or be in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of drugs. Section 14 of the Road Traffic Act, 1994, provides that, where a member of the Garda Síochána is of the opinion that a person is committing such an offence, that person may be required to give a blood or urine sample. Such samples are analysed, as appropriate, for evidence of drugs.
(Mayo): Will the Minister agree there is a major discrepancy in that, while there is a precise method of assessing blood alcohol levels, there is no precise method for measuring or gauging the level of drugs in the system? Is it the case that a person could be under the permitted blood alcohol level despite having consumed a substantial quantity of drugs? This places the Garda Síochána in a dilemma in determining what to do.
Under the law, where a garda is of the opinion that a person has consumed intoxicating liquor, that person may be required to provide a breath specimen. There is no provision in the Road Traffic Acts for the breath testing of drivers for evidence of drugs. Any changes in that respect would be a matter for my colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey. The advice of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety is that there is no test apparatus available equivalent to the breathalyser in testing for evidence of drugs. Research is ongoing in the United Kingdom and elsewhere into the possibility of introducing a saliva test. This research is at an early stage. Because of the wide variety of drugs available and having regard to the various methods of consumption, a saliva test may not prove conclusive. It is an offence to drive while under the influence of drugs. It is sometimes mistakenly believed that it is only an offence to drive while under the influence of alcohol but that is not the case. The Deputy is correct, the methods utilised in obtaining evidence in regard to the consumption of alcohol are far more sophisticated in that a breathalyser test is available than in testing for evidence of drugs. When samples are taken there is a method whereby traces of controlled substances can be identified.
(Mayo): Will the Minister agree the position is unsatisfactory in that it is difficult to prove that a person who is footless, incoherent and manifestly incapable of driving having consumed prescribed or illegal drugs, or a combination of drugs and alcohol, and whose blood alcohol level is under the permitted limit, has committed an offence? Will the Minister agree it is unsatisfactory that samples are analysed in separate centres? The Medical Bureau of Road Safety is located at Earlsfort Terrace and the State Laboratory is in Abbotstown. All samples should be analysed at Earlsfort Terrace. There should be mandatory testing where there is a suspicion that a person has consumed drugs and the sample should be analysed immediately. There is a need to determine the permitted level for drugs from the point of view of contravening the law.
Pursuant to the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1995, where a garda is of the opinion that a person is attempting to drive while under the influence of an intoxicant, that person may be required to give a sample of blood or urine. An intoxicant is defined as including alcohol, drugs or both. An individual may be convicted for driving while under the influence of drugs. There is, however, no on-the-spot device available such as a breathalyser to assist a garda in formulating this opinion but it is open to him or her to formulate this opinion in the same way that it was possible prior to the introduction of the breathalyser and the taking of blood and urine samples to form the opinion that an individual was incapable of driving and secure a conviction in court. We should seek — this problem is being addressed in the United Kingdom and elsewhere — to develop a mechanism to assist a garda in coming to an opinion on the roadside.