Motorists convicted of drink-driving will be forced to resit the driving test under a plan being drawn up by the Minister for Transport and Road Safety Authority (RSA).
Under the plan, convicted drunk drivers will go back to the very start of the training process, including resitting their theory test, undertaking compulsory basic training and being required to drive under the soon-to-be introduced learner permit for young or inexperienced drivers. These permits will be more restrictive than the current provisional licence.
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen told The Irish Times: "People convicted of drink-driving should be made resit their driving test. I think it is a very good idea. It is one of a range of issues that the RSA is considering in the new strategy." He added that the move would require legislation.
The RSA is running a closed two-day conference in Dublin, ending today, with road safety agencies as part of the consultation process for the development of a new road safety strategy, to run from 2007 to 2012.
Forcing drunk drivers to resit the test is part of a continuing increase in the severity of penalties for this offence. Disqualification periods for drink-driving offences were increased in the Road Traffic Act 2006. Motorists marginally over the limit with an alcohol level between 80mg and 100mg per 100ml of blood now face a fixed €300 fine and a six-month driving ban. This option is only available to someone who has not been convicted of a drink-driving offence in the last five years.
Motorists above the 100mg level face a two-year ban on court conviction rising to a four-year ban for a second or subsequent convictions. Motorists above the 150mg level face a three-year ban on court conviction rising to a six-year ban for a second or subsequent convictions.
Recently returned from a ministerial visit to Vancouver, Mr Cullen also said he was struck by how the Canadian media handled the reporting of a fatal overnight drink-driving case.
"On an early morning news broadcast they named the driver who had been arrested, said he was over the limit and that he had been charged with manslaughter. I have spoken to Noel Brett [chief executive of the RSA] about whether we could do something similar here. Make public those drivers who are drinking and driving and killing and seriously injuring other road users. I would like to get that kind of information into the public domain - to point out whose fault it is," Mr Cullen said.
He also said he was concerned at what appears to be a significant fall in the conviction rate of drivers prosecuted on the basis of a blood or urine sample that is over the limit.
A report into road fatalities by researchers from the forensic and legal department of University College Dublin noted that the conviction rate for drivers whose blood or urine sample was over the blood alcohol limit has fallen significantly over the past five years.
In 2001, 73 per cent of prosecutions resulted in a conviction - but the conviction rate has fallen every year and in 2005 fewer than a quarter of all those charged (24 per cent) were convicted, according to Garda data.
Mr Cullen said he would discuss this issue with the Courts Service and the Garda, as there is growing concern that the obvious reason - cases finishing the year after they begin - may not explain the fall in convictions.
Mr Cullen also said he wants to change the prosecution process for drink-driving offences so that whether or not a driver is over the limit becomes the most important consideration: "We become far less reliant on interpretation of whether or not certain steps were followed. The will of the Oireachtas and the public is that if you are blatantly guilty that you will be convicted, rather than get off on a technicality," he said.
