Sir, – I was shocked to hear the Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan say 10,000 fixed charge penalty points are terminated every year and this helped build a positive relationship with the public (Breaking News, January 23rd).
Surely he is missing the point? I lived in London in the 1990s and one day received a £50 on-the-spot fine and three points on my licence for what I thought was a relatively minor traffic offence. There were no discussions or excuses accepted and I paid the fine. However, I learned my lesson and I never offended again. This zero tolerance approach seems to work, with fatalities on UK roads being far fewer than in Ireland.
And isn’t that the point? It’s not just about building positive relationships, it’s about saving lives. Letting us off offences means only one thing – that we will repeat the offence because we know “someone” who will sort it out.
When gardaí issue penalty points they are doing their job and trying to stop the current carnage on our roads. Whingeing and asking them to undo their work is disrespectful, unacceptable and a crime in itself.
The biggest favour the gardaí can do for those who request their penalty points to be quashed is to say No. It’s especially hard to do knowing that at any point their decision could be undermined and overturned. The message Commissioner Callinan should drive through his organisation is: no exceptions! – Yours, etc,
MARY CLARKE
Kincora Park,
Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Sir, – It might be relevant to note a few facts regarding the allegations of corrupt cancellation of motoring offences.
1. Certain members of the Garda are entitled to cancel certain offences for due cause. 2. Only the officer receiving an allegedly corrupt payment and the person making the payment can be certain corruption took place. 3. While any one Garda officer might suspect a few offences were cancelled without proper reason, he/she can only be arguing from “the particular to the general” that widespread cancellation is happening and that the cancellations are corrupt. 4. There are established facts of motoring offences brought by the Garda before the courts which are effectively being dismissed by the courts and without even the due imposition of penalty points on the culprit’s licence. To me, this is a far greater scandal than some unproven allegations which are causing Shane Ross to become incoherent with indignation. – Yours, etc,
EAMONN PURCELL,
Albert College Lawn,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – What was “disgusting” at the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday afternoon last was Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan’s attitude to and remarks about whistleblowers – the arrogance was terrifying and one hopes he will, indeed, “consider [his] position”. – Yours, etc,
GEOFF SPRATT,
Old Blackrock Road,
Cork.