Penalty point weaknesses ‘systemic’

The Garda penalty points regime has systemic weaknesses which result in up to 20 per cent of fines not being collected, a report published by the Public Accounts Committee has concluded.

The report by the Dáil’s spending watchdog has also found high levels of inconsistency in the way senior gardaí used discretion in cancelling fines and penalty points.

"The controversy surrounding the cancellation of penalty points has ultimately damaged the reputation of An Garda Síochána, " it says.

The inadequacy of the confidential recipient system is one of 14 major findings made by the all-party committee in the report, which was released yesterday in Leinster House. It also criticises senior Garda personnel for ineffective management of the fixed processing system. “A review of the way complaints from members of An Garda Síochána are investigated is necessary in order to ensure that the independence of such a review is seen as beyond reproach,” it states.

Recommendations

The report also makes 12 recommendations. Some deal with deficiencies in technology, such as the lack of touch-screen technology to input traffic offences.

There are also recommendations surrounding the issues raised by Garda whistleblowers Sgt Maurice McCabe and former garda John Wilson, including a review of the confidential recipient system, an independent process to deal with complaints of malpractice against gardaí, and an annual audit of cancelled penalty points to give assurance to the Garda Commissioner that they are compliant with best practice.

In a statement last night, Acting Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan said the Garda was “fully committed to improving the effectiveness and transparency of the penalty points system”.

“On receiving the report, An Garda Síochána will immediately review the recommendations and examine how best they can be implemented as part of the ongoing changes to the penalty points system.”

The report was published by PAC chairman John McGuinness yesterday along with committee members Sean Fleming, Robert Dowds, John Deasy and Kieran O'Donnell.

Loss to exchequer

Mr McGuinness said it had borne out many of the issues raised by Sgt McCabe and by earlier reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General. He said up to €6 million had been lost to the exchequer because of the deficiencies identified.

“The important thing was the role of Sgt Maurice McCabe. When you stand out and tell the truth about a broken system it’s a lonely space to occupy,” said Mr McGuinness. “His evidence to the committee where he sat before us in private session in his full uniform struck every one of us.”

Mr McGuinness also contended it was clear that some abuse of the system continued and all that had happened and had been disclosed until now had not stopped it. He said the committee would return to the issue at a future stage.

He also explained why a specific reference to former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan which appeared in an earlier draft report did not feature in the final version. Mr Callinan had described some of the allegations made by the whistleblowers as "disgusting". "This report reflects the general view of the committee," said Mr McGuinness. "We did not want to single out any individual – if it was the commissioner or not. [At the same time] I believe it was not acceptable he made that remark," he said.