Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe has vowed to tackle the increasing issue of drug driving through legislation in a bid to crack down on bad driver behaviour.
He said legislation was being drafted in "relation to tackling the huge threat of drug driving" and, once that was ready, his priority would be to strengthen it by integrating it with the existing legislation to ensure there were no legal loopholes.
Mr Donohoe said this new piece of legislation would act as the necessary "strong legal foundations for the use of the new drug testing mechanisms".
The garda roadside drug tests, which will be introduced early next year, will be used to identify drivers who are under the influence of drugs and will allow members of the force to test drivers for drugs such as cocaine and cannabis through a swab test.
The minister is adamant that the legal foundations will be as robust as possible so there will be no legal loopholes, or challenges to the drug tests in the courts.
"I have learned from my time as Minister for Transport that if the legal foundations in relation to road traffic legislation are not as robust as possible, it leads to challenges in court and it leads to problems with the implementation of road traffic law.
"And it is for that reason that we will have new primary legislation in place to underpin the use of these new devices," Mr Donohoe added yesterday.
Source: Emma Jane Hade, Breanne Madden and Emer Nolan, Irish Independent, 11/11/15
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