Mr Salmond said October 18, 2014 was a "possible date" for the independence referendum, but insisted the matter would not be decided until the close of a Scottishgovernmentconsultation - which he said had already received more than 3, 000 responses.
The Scottish government's consultation on drink-driving runs until the end of November, although Labour justice spokesman Lewis Macdonald said there was a "strong case" for early legislation to cut the limit.
The last time the costs of the referendum were looked at was in the Scottish government's consultation paper Your Scotland - Your Referendum, published at the beginning of last year.