Controversial.
An Irish road safety group has called on Minister for Transport Paschal Donohue to take action amid news that hundreds of drink-driving cases in Ireland could be thrown out if results of breath alcohol tests are not printed in both English and Irish.
According to The Herald, members of PARC (Promoting Awareness, Responsibility and Care on our roads) have called on Donohue to take action in the wake of a case last July involving a driver who failed a breath alcohol test, but whose legal team argued that the statement wasn’t valid because it was only printed in English.
Commenting yesterday, High Court Judge Mr Justice Seamus Noonan said there was “no ambiguity” in a law which says that printouts must be supplied in Irish and English when Gardai carry out tests using the Evidenzer alcohol breath test machine.
As a result, hundreds of drink-driving cases throughout the country could be thrown out for the same reason.
Susan Gray from PARC said that news of the case would be “very distressing” for people who have lost friends and relatives in incidents involving drink-drivers and has called on Paschal Donohue to take action.
“Members of PARC were attending a number of court hearings where we observed solicitors asking judges to dismiss drink-drive charges for this very reason,” Gray said.
“We wrote to the Minster and asked him if there was a loophole there to close it as soon as possible.
“It is extremely worrying for us and it must be troubling for the Gardai also who are trying to bring these people to justice.
“Again, we call on Mr Donohoe to sort this out.”
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