The Government is examining the introduction of compulsory roadside alcohol testing of drivers involved in serious accidents, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has announced.
Mr Dempsey said his Department is examining ways to amend current legislation so that it would be compulsory for gardaí to conduct roadside testing of drivers involved in serious accidents, subject to overriding medical circumstances.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey
Currently, gardaí can use their discretion in testing drivers at accidents, but, Mr Dempsey wants to put testing on a statutory footing.
He said the difficulty in defining the legislation was to ensure that people who needed medical treatment following an accident received it before being tested.
"We will have to try and frame that amendment to allow for cases where there may be somebody who has caused an accident or is responsible for an accident and who was dying on the side of the road that that person would receive medical treatment before being tested," said Mr Dempsey.
"This will be an important tool in our fight to make our roads safer. Every death on our roads is tragic and avoidable."
Fine Gael's transport spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said the announcement was a "humiliating U-turn" by the Government.
"A Government amendment to the Fine Gael Dáil motion shows a clear reversal of Minister Dempsey's position from June this year, when he told the Dáil 'I do not propose to alter that position'. "The Government's humiliating U-turn is a victory for the bereaved families and campaigners who have tried to get Fianna Fáil to keep its word on mandatory alcohol testing at accident scenes."
Mr Dempsey said there was no U-turn and that a Fine Gael motion on the Dáil agenda this evening indicated "there's an acceptance that the Taoiseach made this commitment during the course of the last election campaign".
Mr Dempsey made his announcement only hours before the Dáil was due to debate a Fine Gael private members' motion on this issue," said Mr O'Dowd.
Sinn Féin justice spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh said it was "regrettable that we are once again discussing the need for the introduction without delay of mandatory alcohol testing for drivers involved in accidents causing injury".
"This issue could have been resolved with the Road Traffic Bill of last year but was unfortunately omitted for some reason," he said.
"Gardaí must be given the power to automatically breathalyse a driver who has been involved in an accident without first having to form an opinion that an intoxicant had been consumed. Surely the serious injury or death of a person on our roads should warrant a reason to breathalyse the driver responsible."