Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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11. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the person that undertook the internal audits of fixed charge notice cancellations in November and December 2013; the method used to carry out these audits; if he will commit to publishing all internal audits of fixed charge notice cancellations on a regular basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5350/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Following the publication of the two Garda reports on fixed charge notices the Garda Commissioner established an implementation group to revise the Garda Policy document on the Fixed Charge Processing System and to implement the recommendations from these reports in consultation with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The output from this work was a circular from the Commissioner which significantly tightened up on procedures for the cancellation of Fixed Charge Notices. This set of revised procedures, which includes audit arrangements to ensure compliance, issued to all members of the Garda Síochána on 30 August, 2013.

I am advised by the Commissioner that the Assistant Commissioner, Traffic, the Garda Professional Standards Unit and Garda Internal Audit Section have undertaken, and will continue to undertake, regular audits of the cancellation of fixed charge notices against the revised cancellation procedures. Audits to date include the following:

- The Assistant Commissioner, Traffic has conducted an audit of decisions to terminate by selected Divisional Officers and all those examined were found to be in accordance with policy.

- The Garda Professional Standards Unit has conducted an audit of decisions to terminate fixed charge notices by 24 Garda District Officers. All decisions examined were found to be in accordance with policy.

- The Garda Internal Audit Unit has conducted an audit of non-discretionary cancellations at the Fixed Charge Processing Office. The audit found that the office was complying with the revised procedures.

I am further advised that the Assistant Commissioner Traffic will report annually to the Commissioner the findings of these audits and that the Commissioner will, in turn, submit a report on the matter to my Department. I will consider publication of such reports in due course.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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12. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality with reference to section 102 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the cause of the delay in referring the ongoing allegations of malpractice in relation to the fixed charge penalty notice system until now; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5331/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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It is important to understand the basis for a referral of a matter to the Garda Ombudsman Commission under section 102 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. Section 102 permits me to refer a matter to the Garda Ombudsman Commission for investigation where it appears to me to indicate that some members of the Garda Síochána may have committed an offence or behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings, and where I consider it desirable in the public interest to do so.

There is therefore a dual test to be met before a matter can be referred under section 102. It is not open to me to make a referral simply because I wish to do so. It is also worth noting that, under section 102, the Garda Ombudsman Commission can on its own initiative investigate any such matter on exactly the same grounds. In other words, insofar as I can refer a matter to the Garda Ombudsman Commission under section 102, the Garda Ombudsman Commission can in any event choose to investigate it on its own initiative.

Notwithstanding a recent detailed Garda investigation into these allegations, I concluded that it was now in the public interest that this referral be made, particularly in circumstances where continuing allegations were being made and where the Garda Síochána was being drawn into a matter of political controversy, so that public concern over this matter could be definitively addressed. The Garda Ombudsman Commission should now be given the time and space to conduct a thorough investigation of the allegations and the circumstances in which they were made and pursued.