Garda breath-test scandal: Shocking report not surprising

THE latest report into the Garda breath-test scandal is shocking but not surprising.

Shocking because it confirms the existence of an apathy at the highest levels of An Garda Siochána towards wrongdoings by its members, something that should never be allowed stand in any properly run police force. Not surprising because, in a very real way, we have heard it all before.

The report commissioned by the Policing Authority doesn’t have a lot to say for itself. It is certainly critical of the Garda top brass but it never approaches, let alone goes for the jugular. It employs carefully guarded euphemisms to speak of an “inadequate pace of response” to an internal report earlier this year by Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan, which revealed a discrepancy of almost 1.5m breath tests over an eight-year period.