The Government will not change regulations banning the use of hand-held mobile telephones in cars despite Opposition warnings that they will prove to be legally unenforceable.
The controversial regulations, which were signed by the Minister of State for the Department of the Environment, Mr Bobby Molloy, early this week, are already in force on the roads.
The new mobile phone regulations intend to ensure that people do not take their eyes or their attention off the road while driving, according to a spokesman for the Department of the Environment. What people can and cannot do with mobile phones is determined by this principle.
This means that the regulations state that a person cannot hold or "have on or about their person" a mobile phone while driving.
According to the spokesman, this is intended to deal with situations where people drive while speaking into mobile phones tucked between their ear and their shoulder.
It also means that people cannot have mobile phones clipped to their belts or in their pockets, attached to mobile hands-free sets with ear-pieces and microphones. These are also regarded as potential distractions for drivers.
The new regulations will not prohibit the use of a mobile phone which is attached to a specific car kit, attached to the body of the car. Apart from the act of switching it on or off, this requires little physical contact from the driver.
Asked about dialling on a phone in such a kit, the spokesman said that this would not be prohibited, but the issue might be looked at again. "We would prefer people to pull in to dial," he said. There will be no exceptions to the regulations, which will apply to the Garda, emergency services, taxis and others. They, too, will be expected to have all communication devices fixed to the bodies of their cars, the spokesman said.
According to Mr Ronan Munroe BL, it is unusual to introduce what is effectively a new offence through a statutory instrument attached to primary legislation, though legally it is permissible.
"It might have been more suitable to put it into primary legislation," he said. One anomaly he identified was that the regulations appeared to allow the use of mobile phones to play games, which take the full attention of the user, or music. "They do not cover uses for purposes other than communication," he said.
He also pointed out that drivers would only be permitted to use hand-held phones when legally parked.
The regulations stated that "parked" meant stopped in a way that was not an offence under the Road Traffic Act. "It means there can be no pulling in on a clearway or a double yellow line to take a call," he said.
Meanwhile, the Dáil will today finally agree the final stages of the long-awaited Road Traffic Bill, which includes the creation of a penalty points system for motorists as its centrepiece. Once the points system is introduced, the use of mobile phones will incur penalty points as well as fines up to €450.
The Labour Party spokesman on the Environment, Mr Eamon Gilmore, urged Mr Molloy to withdraw the regulations and "return to the drawing board".
"Controls on the use of mobile phones by those driving cars are a necessary safety precaution, but it is clear that Minister Molloy, in his haste to be seen to be doing something about road safety, has made a total mess of this issue," he said.