Gardaí face two more scandals: Credibility, resources squandered

The disturbing revelation that An Garda Síochána carried out just half of the drink-driving breath tests that the force’s records suggested it had completed between 2012 and 2016 is another body blow to what remains of the force’s tattered credibility.

Almost two million tests were logged but the force has admitted that fewer than a million were actually carried out. This is another bone-shaking scandal the gardaí, especially its management, can scarcely afford.

That this huge discrepancy, whether created to mislead or a symptom of slapdash record keeping, exists around an exercise designed to save lives by making roads safe from drink drivers moves it from the farcical to the sinister and unacceptable.

Though not nearly as shocking, the disclosure that more than 14,500 people who were prosecuted for road traffic offences will have convictions quashed because they were taken to court without being sent a fixed-charge notice beforehand eats away at that credibility too.

Those convictions must now be appealed and the State is obliged to cover all costs that avoidable process will incur. These bills are expected to run into millions of euro.

Not only has a good proportion of what remains of the force’s authority been squandered, scarce resources will now go to cover what looks like another bonanza for the legal professions facilitated by incomprehensible ineptitude around simple, red-tape administration.

Surely some way can be found to resolve this circus without rubbing salt into the wound by having to pay millions to the lawyers or barristers all too happy to cash in on another Klondyke created by ham-fisted public administration?

That these fiascos come to light just weeks after an inquiry was established into allegations that a circle of the force’s most senior officers orchestrated a campaign to discredit whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe cannot be ignored.

Should those chilling allegations be confirmed then yesterday’s admissions will add to the momentum that suggests that Government has fewer and fewer options left in how it might deal with the force’s senior officers.

That momentum also suggests that like it or not, Government will have to finally confront the Garda culture that seems so comfortable with unacceptably low standards of professionalism.

That the Policing Authority had not been made aware of wild over-reporting of drink-driving tests before the issue was reported in the press adds to the sense of bewilderment and challenge. It deepens uncomfortable suspicions too.

Unfortunately, it must be said too that Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan hardly led from the front yesterday. Assistant Commissioner Michael Finn, who was promoted to that rank just last November, was sent to face the music on what is a legacy issue.

Had yesterday’s press conference been called to give good news, a reduction in road deaths say, it is fair to suggest that Mr Finn might have had to share the limelight with his senior officers.

An Garda Síochána has been the subject of myriad critical reports but it has not used those disclosures as a template to remake itself. Change, it seems, may have to be imposed.