Dempsey rejects mandatory tests call

Mandatory testing for alcohol at the scene of all driving collisions would not be a good use of garda time, the Minister for Transport has said.

Speaking at the Select Committee on Transport this afternoon, Minister Noel Dempsey opposed an amendment to the Road Traffic Bill 2009 that would require gardaí test all drivers for alcohol when they attend road traffic accidents.

The Bill is currently at committee stage. If introduced in its current form, gardai will be required to test for alcohol at crash scenes only when a person has been injured.

Labour Party Deputy Tommy Broughan said there was an overwhelming desire that alcohol tests at the scene of all accidents should be mandatory. There needed to be a strong commitment to tackle drink driving, he said.

Fine Gael Shane McEntee said if people knew they were going to be tested "regardless of the tip" they would give more consideration before driving.

But Mr Dempsey said mandatory testing at all accidents would not be a good use of garda time. Even if a driver was in the wrong "he would be getting a garda out to the scene in the hope that someone had a glass of wine at lunch", he said.

The Minister did agree to consider an amendment to make those found guilty of drink driving liable for the costs of their prosecution. He also said he would revisit a provision which seemed to require that the garda who attended the accident was the garda that had to test for alcohol when the person was taken to a garda station.

The Minister declined to change the legislation to allow preliminary roadside tests to be used as evidence in court cases. And he said he would not increase the sentence for a summary finding of drink driving from six months to 12 months. The Attorney General had strongly advised against such a high sentence at summary level, he said.

The committee will met again on June 16th to consider additional amendments to the Bill before it is sent forward to the Seanad. After debate there, it will return to the Dail for final approval. Deputies are hopeful it will be passed before the Dail closes for the summer break.