Minister's mobile message fails to ring true - Mitchell

Fine Gael spokeswoman on local government and housing Olivia Mitchell TD said tonight the Garda Commissioner's request to the Attorney General for an interpretation of the new mobile phone regulations highlighted the extent of the fiasco created by the Minister.

"The Minister's battery was definitely not on full charge when he introduced a regulation that even the Garda Commissioner cannot understand.

"Despite universal support for some controls on the use of hand held mobile phones, the Minister has produced such a confused and convoluted regulation that it is unimplementable.

She added: "To compound the problem, he then attached penalty points to this offence. If the Garda Commissioner fails to understand the offence, there is little prospect that the public will have any understanding of what is required of them to comply with the law."