An Cathaoirleach: I thank members for facilitating this early meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to have an engagement on the topic of Garda pursuits with a particular focus on the additional resources and training that may be required and related matters.

Members will be aware of a number of instances, particularly the horrendous crash on the M9 during the summer, which gave rise to serious and significant issues of public concern. It was in that light that the committee agreed to meet to discuss those issues with representatives of the members of An Garda Síochána in the first instance and with members of management of An Garda Síochána later in the afternoon. I welcome the following witnesses to this session: Mr. Ronan Slevin, general secretary of the Garda Representative Association, GRA, and Mr. Niall Hodgins, president; Mr. Ronan Clogher, general secretary, Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI; and Mr. Kevin Bolger, deputy general secretary, Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. The format of the meeting is that we will ask each of the organisations to make an opening statement of around three minutes and we will then invite members in the order in which they have indicated to put any questions they may have. We will allow an initial period of seven minutes for engagement. If time allows, we will have a second follow-up engagement....

Deputy Michael Murphy: I really appreciate this opportunity. As the Chair said, I chair the transport committee where we are doing a lot of work on road safety at the moment. We hope to publish a report in the coming weeks after six months of focused hearings. I did not get a chance to bring in the representative bodies here in front of me, so I wanted to come today just get their perspective on two key issues. I really want to focus on driver behaviour. Why does somebody drive the wrong way down a motorway? Why does somebody get behind the wheel of a car and exceed the speed limit? Why does somebody get behind the wheel of a car and take a drink or take a drug?

We have substantial non-compliance on Irish roads. There were 10,000 checkpoints during the Christmas operation. In that month alone, 26,500 fixed penalty notices were issued for speeding. Three thousand cars were seized on the side of the road, 65% of which did not have insurance. There were 765 arrests for either the consumption of alcohol or the taking of drugs. I can go on about seatbelt and mobile phone use...

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