Gardaí and penalty points: Firm response is essential

IT is reassuring that Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has acknowledged that disciplinary proceedings must be taken against gardaí — 21 current or retired members of the force — who defied clear instructions not to cancel driver penalty points after last summer’s controversy.

This may not be a life-or-death issue but no police force can sustain the moral authority it needs to do its job properly if behaviour like this — if it is confirmed after a fair, objective investigation — is tolerated within in its ranks.

The integrity of the force depends on a quick and transparent resolution of the issues raised by an internal Garda inquiry and any stonewalling of the kind so criticised in earlier instances by the Garda Ombudsman would be unacceptable.