A failure of joined-up thinking and action by Government departments and agencies has been a consistent and frustrating feature of Irish public life. So long as one body gets its work done, the interests and requirements of other State groups are frequently ignored, even when illegal activities may be involved.
In that regard, the fragmented responsibilities of a number of departments in relation to road traffic matters continue to contribute to a dysfunctional system.
The appalling record of the Department of Transport, in creating the chaos that exists in relation to the driver- testing system - with its attendant 400,000 provisional licence-holders - does not stop there. It is also responsible for the provision of an inadequate bus and rail public transport system. And when it contracts out the testing of private vehicles, through the National Car Testing system (NCT), it does not share relevant data with other agencies.
Specifically, information collected in relation to road vehicles by NCT becomes the property of the Department of Transport. But this material, some of which may relate to criminal offences, is not passed on to the Garda Síochána because the department has not specifically instructed NCT that this should be done. A spokesman for NCT has confirmed that a huge volume of data is available to the department but is not being used.
Where the chassis number of a car has been damaged or erased, raising the suspicion that it may have been stolen, NCT is required to fail the vehicle. But it does not report the matter to the Garda. Instead, in order to have the vehicle properly certified, the owner is asked to obtain a certificate from the Garda stating that it corresponds with the car registered on the national vehicle file. In the case of a stolen car, such an approach to the authorities would not take place.
In the same way, it is possible for NCT to keep track of odometer readings on those cars presented for regular testing and to identify cases where the mileage has been deliberately rigged. The practice of "clocking" or reducing the actual mileage shown on an odometer is illegal because it artificially inflates the value of the vehicle. Once again, the information is not passed on to the Garda. It may be that the Department of Transport decided that the Garda Síochána was already over-extended in policing the penalty points system and cracking down on drunken driving when it did not direct NCT to bring these matters to official attention. Whatever the reason, new instructions should be issued and the law comprehensively enforced.