Gardai say they have been unsuccessful in prosecuting motorists for using mobile phones while driving because there is a gap in the law.
The AA maintains that the problem can be dealt with under existing legislation, which stipulates that motorists must drive with due care and attention, although greater enforcement was needed.
However, Supt Tom Murphy, of the Garda National Traffic Bureau, said this was erroneous. Gardai had tried in the mid1990s to prosecute people under Section 52 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, but the cases had not succeeded.
In view of this, the force welcomed the decision by the Minister for the Environment to ask a "high-level" committee to consider banning the use of mobile phones by drivers.
Supt Murphy said that in legal cases of this type it had to be proved beyond reasonable doubt that the motorist was driving without due care and attention.
"Using a mobile phone in itself is not driving without due care and attention", he said. There was a "lacuna in the law" in relation to this.
Advice to the Garda from the DPP had indicated that for a prosecution to succeed additional evidence, such as erratic driving patterns or evidence that other people had been placed in danger, was needed. With this other evidence, use of a mobile phone could be part of the case against a driver, and there had been some successful prosecutions in cases involving this type of evidence.
Mr Conor Faughnan, public affairs manager of the AA, said yesterday that the way to address road safety issues was to enhance the level of enforcement. He added: "If the gardai are telling us they would be helped in that regard by a new provision, than let's have that."
Supt Murphy referred to "incontrovertible evidence" which had shown that use of a mobile phone while driving had been a major factor in two fatal road accidents so far this year. There was also "tangible evidence" that mobile phone use has contributed to other road traffic accidents.
He pointed out that nine other European countries have, or are in the process of drafting, legislation to ban the use of mobile phones while driving. This included the UK and the North, where motorists using a mobile phone while driving can receive penalty points.