Penalty points abuses probe due in 2 weeks

An internal Garda investigation into the second batch of alleged penalty points abuses is due to be completed in two weeks.

The report will be submitted to interim Garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan, who will decide if any further internal investigation is required.

The internal probe conducted an audit on samples of terminations — believed to number several hundred — which were made in 2013 and 2014.

The review was ordered by Ms O’Sullivan after she received a file from whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe in August.

The file claimed that people who had received multiple terminations in the past had continued to enjoy cancellations despite new procedures which directed that such cases had to be examined closely.

The allegations also included claims that there was no documentation backing up the applications — something required under the new rules, brought in in March.

The cases involved claims by gardaí hit by penalty points that they were using their private cars on emergency police duty, when allegedly they were not.

It was also asserted that some of the cases occurred after June of this year, when a system was introduced by Ms O’Sullivan whereby only a three-person central processing office had the power to terminate penalty points.

The investigation was conducted by the Professional Standards Unit at Garda HQ and involved Sgt McCabe.

It is thought that the investigation conducted an audit of the 100 incidents in Sgt McCabe’s claims and an examination of a separate sample of several hundred terminations.

Ms O’Sullivan will forward the report to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, as well as the Garda Ombudsman and the Garda Inspectorate.

It is not clear if the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee will receive a copy or if part of the report will be published generally. Ms Fitzgerald said previously the findings of the report would be made public, but stopped short of saying this involved the full report.

The second set of complaints are separate to the first batch of complaints from Sgt McCabe, which spanned 2011 and 2012.

This first set of complaints resulted in two critical reports, by the Comptroller and Auditor General, in October 2013, and the Garda Inspectorate, last March.

The Garda Ombudsman is conducting an extensive investigation into individual allegations in both of Sgt McCabe’s first and second batch of complaints.