Game of pass the parcel over contested box of evidence in points saga

Members of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee are no shrinking violets when it comes to holding the powers that be answerable for their management of the State’s money.

And so it was no surprise when they made clear yesterday that they would resist demands from the Garda commissioner to hand back a “box of evidence” allegedly showing huge costs to the state through the abuse of the penalty point system.

Instead, they will await their own legal advice on whether the information provided by a whistleblower can be used in their examinations of the issue, arising from a Comptroller and Auditor General report showing that one-in-five motorists caught for fixed charge notices managed to evade fines.