Urgent move to close drink-driving loophole

URGENT steps are to be taken to close a legal loophole which has left thousands of drink-driving prosecutions in doubt after the Supreme Court found procedures used in breath tests had no legal basis.

Department of Transport officials were studying the Supreme Court's decision last night in the uneasy knowledge that from today solicitors all over the country will seek to have drink-driving cases struck out on the basis of the decision.

Until the matter is cleared up gardaí are also faced with the dilemma of whether to revert to taking blood and urine samples the time-consuming process which the new breath test was supposed to eliminate.