After lots of talk and tortuous wrangling, Minister Cullen has, says Patrick Logue, at last had a buzz of adrenaline
Whether it is next year's general election looming large, the persuasive powers of Uncle Gaybo, or a shot of adrenaline in Martin Cullen's right arm, our Minister for Transport has seemingly sprung into action this month.
With a couple of strokes of a pen and a number of press conferences, Cullen has set in train the introduction of a series of measures aimed at making our roads safer places to be. But behind the soundbite we have a list of long-overdue ideas, some of which will be only that for some time to come.
The Road Traffic Bill, when enacted, will give gardai wide-ranging powers to clamp down on drivers who speed, drink too much or talk on their mobile phones. Drink-driving will be randomly checked at Garda checkpoints and the new law will introduce a system of on-the-spot fines and bans. Under this scheme offenders at the lower end of the scale can opt for a fixed €300 fine and a six-month ban fine rather than face a minimum one-year ban if they go to court. This will only apply to those offending for the first time and with a blood alcohol reading of between 80mg/ml and 100mg/ml.
Offenders above the 100mg level face a three-year ban on court conviction with a six-year ban for a second or subsequent conviction. The fine of a drink driving conviction will rise to €4,000. But random breath-testing is a long time coming and was originally due to be introduced in the Government's road safety strategy six years ago under Seamus Brennan's charge. Its delay has, no doubt, cost lives.
The Bill will also allow for a ban on the dangerous practice of talking on a hand-held mobile phone while driving. Again, this is something the Government has been dragging its feet on. Legislation to complement a mobile phone ban was first brought forward by Bobby Molloy, then minister of state for the environment, in 2002.
The then Garda Commissioner referred the legislation to the Attorney General for clarification, as the blanket ban would have included emergency services but the legislation was eventually withdrawn. The new Bill, when enacted, will finally allow for the ban and will allow for the use of hands-free models.
The Bill will also crack down on provisional licence holders driving without supervision. However, this power will only be enforced when the waiting list for driving tests has been brought under control. To this end, in another Cullen announcement, we learned that agreement was in sight between the Department of Transport and unions to outsource 40,000 tests. Last week the union Impact voted in favour of the plan to outsource. This will make some inroads into the backlog which currently stands at 140,000, and the waiting time - which is up to a year in some places.
But it will only be a start, meaning many of those who are now driving around unsupervised, unaccompanied and unchecked will continue to do so for some time to come.
Another measure in the Bill that will not see the light of day for some time is the plan to roll out a network of privately-operated speed cameras. This has been a source of sensitivity between the Departments of Transport and Justice for some time. The latter has been waiting, along with commentators and opposition politicians, for the publication of legislation, so it can go to tender for the new cameras.
Last week, neither office was prepared to put even an approximate date on their introduction on the road network. A spokeswoman in Michael McDowell's office said: "We cannot go ahead with the tender until the Road Traffic Bill is enacted."
She said outside consultants, gardai and Department officials were at an "advanced stage" in putting together the tender for the cameras but added the length of time for the tendering process would "depend on the number of applicants. Every single one will have to be considered in detail."
A spokeswoman for Cullen said: "We would hope that this is in place as quickly as possible, but our focus is on getting the legislation in place and the Minister has started that process."
The Bill must now pass through the various stages of the Oireachtas. A debate on it started in the Seanad last Thursday and will have to go through the Dáil after that. Once it has passed through the Dáil it will be signed by the President before Martin Cullen gives his commencement order.
The length of time this process will take "depends on whether there are any big debates or much changes or discussion on it," the Department of Transport spokeswoman added.
"Everybody is up for this. We don't anticipate a delay in either house. We hope this Bill will be enacted before the next bank holiday weekend."
However, the plan of having the measures in place before August 5th might be held up. Despite calls from Cullen for the "urgent" passing of the Bill, Olivia Mitchell of Fine Gael vowed the Opposition would not be rushed and would "do its best to ensure that every loophole is removed" to avoid "a barrage of new legal challenges when enacted."
She might have the right idea. Only last week it emerged that hundreds of drink-driving prosecutions could be struck out due to delays following legal challenges to the intoxilyser alcohol test. Many alleged offenders have been waiting years for their cases to be heard as Supreme Court challenges were brought against the intoxilyser. Garda enforcement, or lack of it, is another possible hurdle that has to be crossed.
Cullen has been saying at a number of his press conferences recently that publication of the Road Traffic Bill marks "another major step forward in this Government's commitment" to road safety and it "leaves nobody in any doubt about this Government's seriousness on road safety." He said that along with "increased Garda enforcement, these new measures will help us to stamp out irresponsible and dangerous driving and in doing so, save lives."
This month's summer road safety campaign, which started on Friday, is being assisted by 275 trainee gardaí from Templemore, while the Garda Traffic Corps is to be given further reinforcements later this year. But a sceptical public who don't see evidence of increased enforcement won't be encouraged by a sceptical force that feels under-resourced.
One garda, who spoke to The Irish Times, said: "Gardai are going to see this as just more window dressing without resolving the fundamental issue of resourcing.
Describing the measures in the Bill as "aspirational" he said rank and file gardai would "do our best" but there was a deep sense of frustration.
"In this day and age the country is well able to properly resource a police force. We'd love it [ THE BILL ]to achieve what it is intended to achieve. We see the road carnage first hand. But legislation by itself doesn't bring about reform."
And the constant, sometimes churlish, yapping of opposition politicians will remind Cullen that the Road Traffic Bill has become as much about saving political lives as it has road users' lives. Mitchell welcomed the new legislation but pointed out the Government had been announcing and re-announcing" it for months. "At least 1,200 people have died on the roads since it first became obvious that the official road safety strategy was not working," she added.