At the outset I thank Senators for facilitating the debate, particularly at short notice. I appreciate that the House has agreed to take it in this manner. The Bill is a technical instrument, designed to provide legal clarity to just one element of the legislation relating to drink driving and to remove a possible basis for a challenge to certain drink driving prosecutions.
The particular issues being addressed consist of the replacement of section 10 of the Road Traffic Act 2002 and the amendment of section 13 of the Road Traffic Act 1994. The position as regards section 10 of the 2002 Act is that I have received legal advice to the effect that a difficulty could arise if I were to provide for its full implementation. The House will recall from the debate on that Act that this section provided for the extension of the grounds under which a driver was required to submit to a preliminary breath test. Senators will be aware of my intention to pursue that extension. However, in preparing for that, a legal difficulty was identified as regards the sequence of the subsections in that section, in so far as they are referred to in section 13 of the Road Traffic Act 1994. That section relates to the obligations on a person to submit to a blood urine or evidential breath test in a Garda station and any potential question as to the capacity of the Garda to invoke powers in that important section needs to be addressed.
I took the view that in order to provide for the extension of roadside breath testing and to ensure the legal certainty of the powers relating to the carrying out of the evidential tests, I would ask the Oireachtas to agree to the technical amendments I propose in the Bill. In that context I am anxious to ensure that the extended powers to carry out roadside breath testing should be available to the Garda at the earliest possible date so as to support this year's Christmas drink driving campaign which gardaí are pursuing jointly with the National Safety Council.
The specific nature of the extension to roadside breath testing envisaged under section 10 of the Road Traffic Act 2002 related to circumstances where a driver was involved in an accident or had, in the opinion of a member of the Garda, committed a traffic offence. Legal advice made available to me called into question the presentation of the reference in the section to a driver being involved in an accident. Essentially, it was suggested that the provision was not workable. I was, therefore, intent on commencing the remaining elements of the section. These included the provisions which allow the gardaí to require a person who was considered to have committed a traffic offence to submit to a preliminary breath test. I intended to provide for that commencement with effect from 1 December. However, it was in that context that the question about the sequencing of the section arose. This difficulty could have created a doubt about the power of the Garda to arrest a person who had refused to submit to a preliminary breath test for the purpose of demanding that the person subsequently submit to a blood, urine or evidential breath test.
Over the past number of years there has been a significant reduction in the number of people killed and injured on our roads. It is clear that over the past year the introduction of penalty points for speeding offences has proved to be a positive initiative. The Road Accident Facts 2002, which has just been published by the National Roads Authority, shows that in that year road deaths fell by 9% to a total of 376. Provisional figures suggest that this year will show a further improvement in our road safety. However, we must seek to support greater progress in areas that can contribute to even greater improvements in road safety.
One area where there is clear room for improvement relates to drink driving. As the NRA's report shows, in 2002 over 30% of all fatal accidents occurred between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. These are the hours most closely associated with drinking and driving. The extent of the problem of drink driving can also be gauged by the fact that in 2002, the Garda made 11,200 detections for drink driving. Approximately 90% of blood and urine specimens and 81% of breath specimens analysed by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety in 2002 were above the limit. Furthermore, over half of those who failed blood or urine tests and almost one third of those who failed evidential breath tests had alcohol contents that were twice as high as the legal limit.
My initiative in pursuing the commencement of the extended basis for taking roadside breath samples was predicated on the need to provide for a greater focus on the issue of drink driving. As I indicated in the Lower House today, my intention is to improve driver behaviour and to give active support to the efforts of the Garda and the National Safety Council in the pursuit of their drink driving campaigns. The initiative will greatly improve the deterrent effect of the enforcement of drink driving law generally. I have decided, however, that while the difficulties noted with the legislation are real and would have compromised my initial proposals, the best course of action is to proceed with my plans on the basis of introducing amending legislation that would address those issues. The Bill before the House today deals with those difficulties and will, if supported by the House, provide that the scheme for the extension of roadside breath testing that was envisaged when the House passed the 2002 Act can be introduced on 1 December.
To achieve that, the Bill provides for the repeal of section 10 of the 2002 Act and its replacement by a new provision. The new provision is contained in section 2 of the Bill. That section provides for the replacement of the original section 12 of the Road Traffic Act 1994, which provided for the operation of the current scheme for roadside breath testing. That scheme limits the Garda to applying the requirement to demand the test only from drivers in respect of whom a member of the Garda would have formed the opinion that they have consumed alcohol. This is a very restrictive basis for the operation of this scheme and it is arguable that until it is extended, we will never be in a position to either establish the extent of the drink driving problem or to address it comprehensively. For that reason the 2002 Act proposed to extend the basis for the operation of roadside testing to encompass those who were either involved in accidents or who had committed a traffic offence.
The wording of one element of the original proposal was open to a narrow interpretation. This is the primary reason for the proposal Senators will find in section 2 of this Bill. The new section addresses the difficulty that has been noted while at the same time providing for the scheme envisaged in the 2002 Act. The extended basis for the operation of roadside testing will mean that the Garda can now directly target the two areas where drink can clearly be a factor in terms of driver behaviour. In particular, we will now be in a position to establish the extent to which the drinking of alcohol by drivers contributes to accidents. The passage of this Bill will allow me to provide for the immediate commencement of all of the elements of this new section. This will, I hope, increase awareness among drivers of the consequences of drinking and driving and of the greater possibility of being detected.
The second main provision in the Bill is set out in section 3. This provides for the amendment of section 13 of the Road Traffic Act 1994. The amendment will provide that the reference in that section to subsection (3) of section 12 will now be changed to refer to subsection (4). The subsection of section 12 in question relates to the power of arrest. With the replacement of that section, through section 2 of this Bill, that power will now be contained in subsection (4) and not subsection (3), as is the case in the existing section. In the context of the application of drink driving laws generally, it is vital that the legal basis for the arrest of a person accused of an offence is clearly established. There is no area of law more contested than in the drink driving area. It is most important that the legal basis is correct, which is the reason we are dealing with this today.
Section 13 of the 1994 Act provides the legislative basis for the operation by the Garda of the testing of those drivers accused of the commission of one of a range of offences for the presence of alcohol in their blood, urine or breath. Depending on the results of those tests, a driver may be fined, jailed and be disqualified from driving. Where a person refuses to submit to the taking of a roadside breath test under section 12 or refuses to obey a requirement of that section, he or she can be arrested and brought to a Garda station so that a sample of their blood, urine or breath can be taken. It is essential that the reference to the power of arrest that is contained in section 12 must be correctly provided for in section 13. The purpose of section 3 of this Bill is to facilitate that point.
The focus of the Bill is to address issues that have an immediate impact on the operation of breath testing. In effect, the passage of the Bill will see the implementation of the scheme envisaged in the Road Traffic Act 2002. However, the issue of drink driving and the determination of the best approach to combating it in the future is a subject that I intend to continue to pursue. It is not acceptable that an estimated 120 people should die on our roads each year simply because a minority of drivers choose to drink. There is clear evidence linking the level of alcohol consumed by a person with their ability to respond in a cognitive manner to events around them. The next road safety strategy will have a particular focus on this issue and will see the identification of measures aimed at providing greater focus on this area. As a first step, as I indicated in the Dáil this morning, I will bring forward proposals to provide for random breath testing in the new year. These are matters for the future, however, and will be the subject of debate in this House.
For today, I again thank the Senators and staff for taking this Bill at short notice. I greatly appreciate it because it allows us to commence an important section of legislation on 1 December which, between now and Christmas, will save many lives.