Less than 25% of gardaí can use drug-drive test equipment
LESS than a quarter of gardaí have been trained to use roadside drug-driving equipment since laws were brought in last year.
New figures released to the Irish Daily Mail under the Freedom of Information Act show there are now 3,145 or 23% of gardaí out of 13,551 members of the force trained – compared to just 1,774 officers last year.
A total of 152 drivers have tested positive at checkpoints since the legislation was introduced on April 13, 2017.
Motorists who test positive face a four-year road ban, a €5,000 fine and up to six months in prison.
Gardaí now use a new device which allows them test drivers’ saliva for the presence of cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and benzodiazepines.
A garda spokeswoman said: ‘As of February 14, 2018, [a total of] 3,145 gardaí have received training to test for drugs at the roadside using the Drager 5000 Drug Test Device.
‘Training is on-going in each Garda division.
‘A “train the trainer” course was provided to 70 continuous professional development trainers nationwide to facilitate this training. The ‘train the trainers’ course was provided jointly by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and the Garda College.
‘The Medical Bureau of Road Safety provided the training in respect of the use of the Drager Drugtest 5000 equipment and the Garda College provided training in respect of the legislation and policy.’
Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesman, Jim O’Callaghan yesterday said that while he welcomed the improvement in figures there was still a long way to go
He said: ‘I welcome the significant increase but the number of gardaí trained to conduct roadside testing needs to continue to rise.
There has been some concern within An Garda Síochána at the low levels of positive detections since the laws were introduced.
It was reported in February this year that only 58 motorists had tested positive for the presence of drugs at mandatory roadside checkpoints.
No updated figures were available when this newspaper requested these. A security source said: ‘The testing devices also do not work when the temperature is below four degrees, which can be problematic in winter. There has also been difficulty in securing saliva samples from motorists when they become nervous. Drying of the mouth occurs, which makes getting the saliva sample difficult.
The Western Region of the country, including counties such as Clare, Galway, Mayo and Longford, have the highest number of gardaí trained with some 653 gardaí trained.
The Eastern Region of the country, which includes counties Laois, Offaly and Westmeath has the fewest number of gardaí trained, with only 353 gardaí trained to use the equipment.
The hand-held spit sample devices used by gardaí can detect the presence of illegal drugs in a motorist’s system, and if a motorist fails the saliva drugs tests, gardaí will have the powers to arrest them on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.
The motorists will then be compelled to provide a further sample, either a blood or urine sample, at a Garda station to confirm presence of drugs.