Irish motorists may face even tougher drink-driving laws following a move by the European Commission to harmonise drink-driving rules across EU member states.
The Commission believes thousands of lives could be saved on EU roads each year if drink-driving rules were harmonised.
In Ireland the present legal limit is less stringent than in many other EU states at 0.8 milligrams of alcohol per millilitre of blood.
In a statement today the Commission proposed setting a legal limit of 0.5 milligrams of alcohol per millilitre of blood - equivalent to about two glasses of beer - in all member states.
The Commission believes such a move could result in a 10 per cent reduction in drink-related road deaths.
Superintendent Vincent McGuire of the Garda Traffic Bureau believes a move to lower to legal limit would have little effect in the short term.
Garda McGuire said: "The present limit was operating pretty effectively but the gardaí would enforce any change in the law".
He said a greater deterrent would be the introduction of random breath testing especially after accidents.
At present a Garda can only breathalyse somebody if they form the opinion that drink has been taken.
The Commission has stopped short of proposing binding legislation on drink-driving. An attempt in 1988 to put the 0.5 mg/ml limit into EU law was rejected by individual member states.
In addition to an EU blood-alcohol limit, the EU executive said countries should adopt random breath testing and aim for every driver to be tested on average every three years.
The Commission is also recommending a lowering of the limit to 0.2 mg/ml for inexperienced car drivers as well as motorcyclists and truck and bus drivers.
"About 10,000 people, a quarter of all EU road deaths, are killed every year in accidents where at least one driver had consumed too much alcohol," the Commission said in a statement.
At least 1,000 lives could be saved by the package of recommended measures, it added.
Ten of the EU's 15 countries already fix a 0.5 mg/ml limit. However in Ireland, Britain, Italy and Luxembourg - the limit is a higher. Sweden has the toughest rules, with a 0.2 mg/ml limit.
Additional reporting by Reuters
