Madam, - Returning from Dublin Airport after dropping off my wife and two daughters for a flight, I stopped for petrol and a copy of The Irish Times at the Texaco service station on Rock Road, Booterstown.
Later that same day, when I was sitting at home, two gardaí arrived to my house. I immediately feared the worst about my wife and daughters.
However, the gardaí were there to tell me that I had not paid for petrol on my visit to the service station. I had handed in my credit card, but the attendant had, through no fault of mine, charged the €1.50 for The Irish Times but not the €16 for petrol.
In the light of Mr Michael McDowell's recent request for an additional 2,000 gardaí, is it to be expected that these will be similarly deployed in small debt collection activities on behalf of the private sector? - Yours, etc.,
BOB GALVIN, Killiney, Co Dublin.