O’Sullivan ‘has been undermined by fresh claims’

The authority of the acting Garda commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan has been undermined by fresh allegations about penalty points system abuse, the opposition has claimed.

Fianna Fáil’s spokesman on justice, Niall Collins, said this was “very regrettable,” because she had been proactive in dealing with the issue since she took up the position in March.

Ms O’Sullivan now faces calls to appear before both the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee to discuss the new allegations made by the Garda whistleblower, Maurice McCabe.

They relate to points being cancelled for members of the force and their families, despite tighter controls being introduced since the matter first came to public attention 18 months ago.

It is alleged that off-duty gardaí falsely claimed they were driving Garda vehicles when traffic offences were committed, and some had points cancelled on multiple occasions.

A new system whereby just three members of the force have the authority to waive penalty points for bona fide reasons has failed, according to Mr Collins.

He said a “parallel system” was in operation, which “came as news to” the acting commissioner.

“It indirectly undermines the authority of Noirín O’Sullivan and I think that is very regrettable because in fairness to her since she took over the role of acting commissioner she has been very proactive in trying to deal with this,” he said.

“On this occasion the optics of it aren’t good and for her sake she should deal with this quickly and I think she is,” he said.

Mr Collins said there was nothing to be gained by calling Ms O’Sullivan before the Oireachtas justice committee because the issue is being examined by senior management as well as the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

“It will probably get ironed out quicker than the previous debacle because part of the issue the last time was there was a campaign to discredit Maurice McCabe and we know his credibility is absolutely watertight, he was vindicated subsequently. If he says there’s something wrong here I think people sit up and take note,” said Mr Collins.

His party colleague and PAC chairman, John McGuinness, said Ms O’Sullivan will be asked to appear before his committee, which will examine how the alleged abuse occurred and what is being done to prevent it from happening again.

He said the Comptroller and Auditor General should examine the new centralised system for points cancellations, based in Thurles.

He said abuse of the system being alleged now is as bad as before. “I believe it is the same level as what went on going back to 2012. In that period of time the State lost something in the region of €6m.”

“The whole system needs further examination and needs to be reformed in certain areas so that there is a tight ship going forward and that the type of revenue being lost to the State is not lost and that penalty points are applied to licenses.”

Sinn Féin’s spokesman on justice, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, described the allegations of continued abuse of the system as “alarming and worrying”.

He urged Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to convene a meeting of interested parties including her department, gardaí and the Road Safety Authority, to ensure the recommendations of the Garda Inspectorate report on penalty point cancellations are fully implemented.