Garda Commissioner vows to take action in breath test scandal

The Garda Commissioner has told the Policing Authority that consequences arising from the breath test scandal, including possible disciplinary action, will be considered in the coming weeks.

The authority yesterday launched a stinging attack on the “behaviour” of gardaí and the “management” and “culture” of the organisation after it emerged that almost half of the two million breath tests conducted over five years never happened.

The shocking revelation was one of two controversies to hit the Garda yesterday after it emerged that 14,700 drivers were wrongly prosecuted in the courts and given penalty points — exposing the State to financial damages and legal costs in redressing the wrong.