Drink driving law enforcement, involving gardai, district justices and the Courts Service has been an administrative shambles. Consider this: one in five prosecutions were struck out in 2015/2016 on the basis that summonses were not delivered; four out of five convictions were not recorded on licences in court; the Courts Service is not linked to the National Vehicle Drivers database to ensure penalties are applied and gardai were found to have exaggerated their breath-testing activities.
Rather than deal with these issues as absolute priorities, more stringent penalties have been proposed for those motorists who drink and drive. As a political response, it takes the form of looking busy. Of course motorists should not drink and drive. Two-out-of-five road deaths are alcohol-related and that reality should be reflected in policing activity and in legislation. But a decision by Minister for Transport Shane Ross to propose stiffer penalties for existing offences hints at opportunism. It also brings him into conflict with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
It so happens that the Taoiseach, as minister, produced the drink driving legislation with graduated penalties that Mr Ross finds unacceptable. He is not amused. As a consequence, Mr Varadkar has offered his Fine Gael colleagues a free vote on the Bill and this is expected to stymie the Independent Alliance minister. It doesn't stop there. It is being made clear that 'free votes' within the minority Government - so dear to Mr Ross and his companions on controversial issues - can become a two-way street.
While political skirmishing continues in the Dail, evidence is emerging that last year’s Garda scandal involving a million phantom breath tests has had a positive impact on their roadside activity. During the last four months, almost three thousand drivers were arrested for breaching drug/driving limits, an increase of 17 per cent over the same period in 2016. Some arrests took place under a new and simplified system involving saliva sampling. More frequent Garda checkpoints and fear of being caught are the principal elements in changing unacceptable road behaviour. What is now required is that summonses are served properly; licences are produced and endorsed in court and the relevant State computers talk to one another.