Penalty Points: Let this be the first step to wider reforms
Six superintendents, including an acting superintendent, were found to have acted outside prevailing policy in cancelling penalty points over the last 18 months.
This was after a report by assistant commissioner John O’Mahoney should have raised a red flag for anybody abusing the system. It was after a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, including recommendations, about how the system was being abused. It was after a major report by the Garda Inspectorate into how the system was open to abuse. In the interim, the Garda commissioner resigned, his departure at least partly attributable to how the penalty points scandal was handled. And the departing justice minister also bore some of the burn marks from his role in the affair.
Despite it all, some officers thought they were above the law. The Professional Standards Unit conducted its investigation after Maurice McCabe came forward with evidence that was shocking, because it implied some were continuing to act with impunity. If McCabe had not forwarded his allegations — including some passed to him by other officers — it is highly probable that the abuse would still be continuing.
As it was, the new commissioner, Nóirín O’Sullivan, thought it best to listen to the turbulent sergeant this time. He hadn’t even been interviewed for the O’Mahoney report. On this occasion, he was seconded to assist the PSU with its investigation, and the result is an indictment of a culture in which a minority feel they can act as they please, come what may.
The audit examined both McCabe’s latest allegations and a sample of cases where cancellations occurred between September 2013 and August 2014. In September 2013, after months of controversy about the issue, the then garda commissioner introduced a policy whereby superintendents could no longer cancel points outside their own areas. Then, in June 2014, his successor Nóirín O’Sullivan went further, confining the power to cancel to three officers based in traffic HQ in Thurles.
The recommendations of the PSU audit include a proposal to set up a new unit in Templemore to deal with the thousands of motorists who continue to evade sanction. There is also a recommendation that when cancellations are considered, the motorist’s previous record should be checked. This stuff is out of junior infants. The whole basis for the scandal going back over two years is that it was repeat offenders who were getting off, and by extension a danger on the roads. And only now, after a series of reports; a new broom in the top job; and the requirement for McCabe to come forward with fresh, shocking allegations, are they getting around to this.
This report will go further towards tightening a system that has been abused long after the first whistle was blown on it. Whether this will be regarded as merely capping an issue that brought negative publicity, or the first step to wider reform remains to be seen.
One way or the other, McCabe has done a major public service once more, long after there should have been any requirement for officers like him to come forward and point out what should have been rectified at least two years ago.
The audit found uncovered that despite these changes, some officers continued to abuse the system. Among the findings were that:
667 cases of cancellations were deemed to have been “problematic”.
Six superintendents, including one acting superintendent, were found to have acted outside policy in cancelling notices. These cases have been referred to the Garda ombudsman, but a number of the officers involved have since retired. This activity was undertaken by the officers despite disciplinary action being taken against three of their colleagues following the O’Mahony report into abuses published in May 2013.
The number of instances where “Undelivered An Post” was given as an excuse for cancelling notices doubled over the time investigated, from 500 to 1,000. This increase coincided with the collapse of the use of the ludicrous excuses that were used prior to the matter entering the public domain in 2013. On the face of it, “undelivered An Post” would raise few suspicions without further investigation.
The number of instances where “medical emergency” was used collapsed from 150 to one between 2013 and 2014.
Of the 667 cases examined, 54 occurred after the introduction of the centralising of cancellations in June last year. Around half of these were found to be legitimate but the others all raise
Among those who benefited from cancellations were two gardai, one of whom had benefited previously from six cancellations. One garda claimed to have been on duty, and the use of the “emergency vehicle” excuse by members who were in fact not on duty and driving private vehicles is another that has come under the microscope. These cases have been forwarded to the Garda ombudsmanfor further investigation.
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