New plans would see drivers hit with multiple penalty points in a single incident

The legislation will also address two anomalies within existing road traffic legislation which have recently emerged. Picture: Damien Storan

Drivers can be hit with multiple penalty points in a single incident and face mandatory drug testing at the scene of serious collisions under new plans to go to Cabinet on Wednesday.

Roads minister Jack Chambers will bring the Road Traffic Bill to Cabinet for approval, with the bill set to allow for the application of multiple penalty points in a single stop where more than one offence has been detected by gardaí. Under the existing Road Traffic Act, a person who commits more than one penalty point offence on the same occasion can only be given one set of penalty points for the highest offence committed.

The new law will also legislate for default speed limits recommended by the Speed Limit Review published in September - changing 50km/h to 30km/h for ‘built-up areas’, from 100km/h to 80km/h for national secondary roads, and from 80km/h to 60km/h on rural and local roads.

The bill will make drug testing mandatory at the scene of a serious collision on the same basis as currently exists for alcohol testing.

The legislation will also address two anomalies within existing road traffic legislation which have recently emerged, the first around gardaí being able to detain motorists during the period after they have provided a sample for drug testing and before a result is processed. The other anomaly relates to a section of the current act where motorists avoid penalty points which would disqualify them from driving for six months and instead serve much shorter, ancillary disqualifications.

A plan to introduce increased penalty points for offences committed during bank holiday weekend periods where high-risk driving behaviours are more prevalent cannot be progressed in this legislation and requires further legal scrutiny.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien, meanwhile will bring to Cabinet the sustainable and compact growth guidelines from his department. The guidelines will inform local authorities on how to plan more dense neighbourhoods with large numbers of private houses mixed with commercial and apartment units. A government source said places like Ranelagh in Dublin are a good example of the guidance.

Cabinet is also set to receive a progress update on the development of the new National Maternity Hospital in Dublin.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will tell Cabinet colleagues that enabling works are now underway at the site, with new buildings being built to move a neurology ward, medical record storage and staff canteen.

The proposed hospital is due to have a capacity of 244 beds, with five theatres and 24 birthing rooms.

Higher Education Minister Simon Harris will seek Cabinet approval to establish a new research and innovation funding agency, to be known as Research Ireland.

The agency itself will combine the existing Irish Research Council with Science Foundation Ireland, and will seek to support researchers in their work.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan will look for cabinet approval for the Climate Action Plan 2024. 

The plan will be subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and public consultation which will take place in early 2024.

This is the second statutory climate plan since the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 was signed into law committing Ireland to 2030 and 2050 targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The most recent EPA inventory figures show that Ireland's emissions fell by nearly 2% between 2021 and 2022.