624. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of the production of breathalyser test results in both Irish and English, if the Road Traffic Act 2010 should be amended in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44775/15]

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (Deputy Paschal Donohoe): ​Section 13(2) of the Road Traffic Act 2010 requires that in cases where testing of a breath specimen has indicated an alcohol concentration higher than the legal limit, the breath test apparatus should print '2 identical statements' of the result in a prescribed form.  The form itself was prescribed by SI 541 of 2011 which provided both English and Irish versions of the form.  The apparatus are programmed to be able to print either.

  The High Court determined in a ruling on 21 September 2015 that the Regulations governing the circumstances where a person who has been arrested on suspicion of intoxicated driving provides a breath specimen, at a Garda station, by exhaling into an Evidential Breath Test (EBT) apparatus, provide that the printed statement produced by the EBT apparatus should be in both Irish and English.

Following the ruling, I revoked S.I. 541 of 2011 and replaced it with new Regulations on 22 September 2015 which state what was always intended, i.e. that there are two alternative versions of the form, one in Irish and one in English.

I have no plans to amend the Road Traffic Act in this regard.