Minister for Transport Martin Cullen is one of the most public figures in the Government. He talked to David Labanyi about some of the problems he faces, and his plans for Irish roads.
Since Martin Cullen's appointment as Minister for Transport, more than 530 people have been killed on the roads. How he deals with this crucial issue ahead of the next General Election will define his tenure.
Sitting in his Kildare St office, adjacent to Leinster House, Mr Cullen appears calm, calmer than you would expect of a man encircled by severe criticism.
His record on road safety to date has been condemned by opposition politicians, the Irish Insurance Federation and the National Safety Council.
The former head of the NSC, Eddie Shaw, in his letter of resignation accused the Minister of lacking the political will to address road safety.
Mr Cullen says this criticism is too simplistic and that his position has been deliberately misrepresented leading to confusion around issues such as random breathtesting.
"It is confusing," admits the Minister for Transport, "and I will explain it because there is absolute clarity around random breath-testing."
"Firstly, neither I nor the Attorney General [RORY BRADY]ever said it was unconstitutional . . . I don't know where this came into it. We said there were constitutional issues."
"I think people have confused random breath-testing with almost a compulsory breath testing approach that on any given day, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, you can stop anyone you feel like and breathalyse them. That is not possible, according to the AG's advice, under Irish law."
Mr Cullen claims he has been working on a way of balancing an individual's rights against those of society - "So we could have a fairly robust random breath testing approach."
However, he confirms the legislation on breath-testing drivers will remove the requirement for gardaí to form the opinion before they stop someone to breathalyse them. Gardaí had identified this as one of the biggest problems they faced in enforcing drink drive laws.
The Taoiseach surprised many when he told the Dáil recently that gardaí were not using the full extent of their existing powers to police the drink driving laws, and encouraged them to do so immediately.
Asked how it had taken so long for this to be clarified for the gardaí, Mr Cullen says this was an operational matter for An Garda Siochana: "I think what the Attorney General did, was that he amplified for them what the current position is.
"There was a notion, which was untrue, that we don't have any random breath-testing in Ireland. We do. Gardaí can set up a random check point any day of the week anywhere they like. I think that is why the AG explained to the gardaí that they had more robust powers and they should be implementing."
However, even when gardaí bring prosecutions for drink driving, a high proportion fall on a technicality. Mr Cullen hopes the new legislation will remove a lot of doubt around the procedure leading to higher convictions.
"It is clear our courts place great emphasis on procedure, as opposed to the UK, where if someone is over the limit, they are punished," the Minister says.
Mr Cullen states that while he was confident the courts would accept the legislation, "If ultimately it proves not to be acceptable to the courts, and we need a constitutional referendum, then we'll have one."
This begs the question, why has it taken so long to get to this point? Mr Cullen's reply is that he and his officials have been engaged "in the most careful analysis to ensure the legislation will stand up to scrutiny".
Mr Cullen also denies that he has received any representations from publicans or their representatives in relation to random breath-testing.
Mr Cullen inherited a massive waiting list of drivers wanting to sit their test when he was appointed in September 2004. Under his tenure the list has lengthened, to more than 130,000.
Cutting this waiting list and reducing the 404,000 drivers currently driving on provisional licences is "crucial for road safety" he says, and is why he wants a private operator to carry out 40,000 tests.
When the waiting is down to about six weeks, Mr Cullen plans a series of changes to the driving licence. He is keen on compulsory driving tests for motorists convicted of drink driving and a graduated licence for inexperienced drivers.
"Forcing someone convicted for drink driving to re-sit the test is pretty severe, but it is the sort of thing we have to do.
"However, I would have no credibility announcing that at the moment, because the backlog is so bad. Changes to the licence now would add thousands to the waiting list. And I also don't want to pre-empt what Noel Brett is going to do."
Mr Brett is the chief executive designate of the proposed Road Safety Authority who will shortly assume responsibility for the training, testing and licensing drivers. Legislation to establish the Authority is due before the Dáil on February 22nd.
The RSA board will not contain representatives from road safety lobbies, according to Mr Cullen, who says he does not want "vested interests" involved.
Asked about the criticisms of his Department, Mr Cullen becomes more animated: "I keep hearing that 'It's too late, it should have been done long ago'. There often isn't an immediate impact, but it is very easy for people to be critical or attack the downside, I'm not afraid of that.
"What I am working on will deliver medium to long term solutions for driver safety and other areas," the Minister insists. He adds that the benefits of decisions taken now "will accrue in the medium to longer term" suggesting he may not get credit for decisions taken now.
Mr Cullen notes that he is dealing with issues that should have been dealt with "in the last number of years", although he denies this was a criticism of his predecessors. "I am not personalising this. There may not have been the resources or whatever."
As an example of longer term planning, and an area where he has been misquoted, the Minister points to the proposed buy-out of the M50 toll plaza.
There was never, he insists, any possibility of multiple tolling points on the M50: "Only one free flow tolling point is planned."
"The right way to protect the taxpayer over the longer term was clearly to get rid of the fixed barrier system, and move to a free-flow system."
He refuses to estimate the likely cost of buying out the National Toll Roads contract, saying it was a matter for the National Roads Authority to resolve, most likely in the courts.
But what of now, and the rising death toll on the roads, and the target set in the safety strategy to have no more than 300 people killed on the roads this year, 100 fewer than in 2005. Can this target be reached. And if not, what then for the Minister?
"The start to 2006 has clearly been very poor, the numbers killed appalling. But it is still possible to achieve the target. We will have to wait until the end of the year to see.
"But I don't for one minute underestimate the challenge that target presents to everyone. We have a collective societal responsibility to achieve this if we want to."
Martin Cullen on:
Cullen: 'I am not going to sit and preside in this department and make no decisions. It may be a lot easier for me to concentrate on cutting the ribbon but I am not going to do that.'
On the M50: 'I have been entirely misquoted in the entire debate. I never said there would be X number of tolls. The objective is replacing the existing one fixed toll barrier system with a free flow system.'
On road deaths: 'The number killed on the roads is appalling and unacceptable.'
On drink driving: 'If someone is convicted of drink driving they should have to resit their driving test.'
On the prosecution of drunk drivers: 'There seems to be very different interpretations to dealing with these issues in the court system. We need consistency across the system.'
On driving tests: 'I want to move to out-sourcing immediately and clear the waiting list in about 18 months. It is crucial for road safety.'
On breath-testing: 'There was a notion, which was untrue, that we don't have any random breathtesting in Ireland.We do. Gardaí can set up a random check point any day of the week, anywhere they like, and under a number of conditions can breathalyse somebody.'
On penalty points: 'I wouldn't say they have lost their impact at all. I think there are 200,910 people with penalty points in the country. That is pretty impactful.'
On privatised speed cameras: 'We have legislation nearly ready to bring forward for that outsourcing . . . it will form part of a roads bill.'
On the Traffic Corps: 'I think the Garda Traffic Corps has an enormous responsibility now to be highly visible and to be implementing the law so people believe that the law is being fully implemented.'
On the Road Safety Authority: 'Instead of a board with a range of vested interests I want a board not clouded in its judgement . . . I am open to providing them with whatever resources they need to do the job.'
On gardaí: 'The Attorney General explained to the gardaí that they had more robust powers and they should be implementing .'
On the Road Safety Strategy: 'It is still possible to achieve the target [of only 300 deaths in 2006] We will have to wait until the end of the year to see."