Legal issues which Taoiseach Bertie Ahern described as "quite extraordinary" are affecting the introduction of random breath testing, the Dáil was told.
Mr Ahern said that "gardaí have powers to do things in the evening that they cannot do in daytime". He said he did not believe "this stands up, but that is current practice", adding that "if somebody is drink-driving, there should be no difference in applying the rules as far as I am concerned".
However, he said that the Ministers for Transport and Justice were in discussion to try to resolve these issues.
The Cabinet had spent an "extraordinary amount of time" trying to resolve a number of road-traffic issues and random breath testing would be part of the changes, Mr Ahern stated.
He was responding to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who asked why it was that "the Minister for Justice says there is no problem with mandatory drug-testing for prisoners but the Minister for Transport says there are legal impediments to mandatory breath testing" to attempt to curb road deaths and speeding while under the influence of drugs.
Mr Kenny claimed the Government "consistently breaks its promises" and that in 1998 the Taoiseach promised the rollout of speed cameras within two years, but seven years later only three cameras were in operation in the greater Dublin area at any one time.
He said only three of the promised 69 penalty-point offences were in place and that on average only one garda in major stations was trained to use breathalyser equipment.
Some 353 people had died in road crashes this year, 21 more than in the same period last year. Mr Kenny agreed that individuals were responsible for their own behaviour on the roads but temperament was conditioned by the perception that they might "get away with it".
Mr Ahern acknowledged that road deaths increased last year to 370 compared to 335 in 2003, the lowest fatality figure for 40 years, and in the last fortnight 26 people had lost their lives. He said there was an enormous 40 per cent rise in the number of vehicles on Irish roads since 1998.
He acknowledged the "false starts" on the penalty-points system but said that "if we did not have penalty points the situation would be worse again".
The Taoiseach said the penalty-points scheme would be expanded to cover more offences, but 86 per cent of deaths were caused by driver error and speed was the main killer, where drink-driving used to be.
Mr Kenny said Ireland was the second worst country in Europe for drink-driving checks.
Mr Ahern agreed that "the public are upset at times when there is more stringent enforcement of the law through more checkpoints and breath tests. However I see no alternative."
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