Dempsey presses ahead with new Drink Driving Limits
Minister for Transport and FF TD for Meath West Noel Dempsey has today published the Road Traffic Bill which will include new Blood Alcohol Concentration ( BAC)limits for provisional and experienced drivers. Included in the Bill is a reduction in the BAC limits for learner, novice and professional drivers from 80 mg/100ml to 20 mg/100ml and from 80 mg/100ml to 50 mg/100ml for all other drivers.
There seems to have been some negotiations between Minister Dempsey and the dissident FF backbenchers who were opposed to these measures last week. Those whose blood-alcohol level falls between the old and new limits will be given three penalty points rather than an automatic disqualification. The Taoiseach Brian Cowen and FG spokesperson on Road Safety Shane McEntee have both given the new measures their support.
I’m glad to see that Minister Dempsey stuck to his guns on this issue. All the hulla buloo over this in the past weeks from vested interests simply, in my opinion, can not hide the basic reason for doing this – to save lives. Some FF people I spoke to said that if more of our Ministers were as forthright and unwavering on other issues, the party wouldnt be in as much trouble as it is.
Kudos to Noel Dempsey. A Minister showing courage while under fire from back benchers who really should be thinking about the bigger picture is some thing we dont see too often. Hopefully, we will see it a lot more into the future.
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There seems to be a bit of a rumpus in the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party following last nights turbulent meeting. Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey’s new proposed Blood Alcohol Limits for Driving got the backs up of a lot of rural backbenchers. They feel his proposal to lower the limit from 80 to 50 micrograms per litre is a step too far and would sound the death knell for rural pubs.
There are reports that up to 20 back bench TD’s are refusing to support the new measure and this undoubtedly will put a strain on the Taoiseach at a time when there are more pressing issues to be dealing with.
I fully support Minister Dempsey’s proposals and not because we are both Meath people. Irish people have some fixation with alcohol and the consumption of it. Even though it is scientifically speaking a toxin which is harmful to the Human Body, Society has accepted that it can be consumed in moderation (how society enforces moderation is another matter entirely). However, Society has also said that if it becomes danger to others, it must be controlled and punished.
All the scientific data suggests that this lowering of the limit will save lives. The Irish Medical Organisation supports it and this is the standard limit through out the rest of the EU. So why are people against it?
Those against it feel that the rights of some people to have a few drinks and drive home outweigh the rights of others using the roads. Those who are against it feel that Publicans should be protected as if they provide some magnificent service to society. Come to think of it, why is gods name do most small towns have in excess of 20 pubs? This fixation with alcohol is detrimental to society.
Dempsey is making the right decision by the Irish people and I hope that the leadership of Fianna Fáil think long and hard before bowing down to a lobby group who are only interested in their profit margins. I accept of course that in rural Ireland the local pub plays an important role and that for some people its their only source of social interaction from week to week. However, is it not beholden on the government and elected representative to make sure that the pub is not the only source of social interaction for those people.
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