Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome both delegations and thank them for their helpful presentations. I wish to put this debate into context.

I was one of the people who initially proposed that the witnesses come before us. The statistics that were presented were really shocking to all of us and to society at large. I accept that the Courts Service has subsequently clarified the matter. Any time the Garda gets an opportunity to come before this committee it makes it into the media. It has been shown over a considerable period that greater media focus on drink driving, death and injury on the road, or any new legislation that is brought forward, has a knock-on effect on the conscious minds of all drivers. It is helpful in that regard.

A lot of the issues and concerns have been clarified in the intervening period or in the witnesses' presentations. My understanding is that there is a conviction rate of about 97% in the UK. We have a little way to go. I think we are at 85% to 87% this year. We are well on our way, but we have to try to get the next piece. It is the old story: the last 10% is always the hardest.

I was taken by what the deputy commissioner said about the new tool that was rolled out in November of this year. It will provide the Garda with much better data, and once that data is in place, maybe we can enact the legislation to go with it. Is there any general idea or breakdown of why cases are dismissed? Perhaps Mr. Twomey could come back to us if he does not have that information. We have all heard anecdotally that summonses are poorly prepared or there is some other issue and the cases fall between the cracks. If the reasons can be identified more clearly, we have a better chance of pushing the conviction rate higher.

I compliment Ms Murdock on her continued efforts. We try to operate in a bipartisan way in this House, as we all share the same desire to surpass the RSA's targets as set out in its strategy. However, there is always a desire to try to do more than we can, faster than we can.

I do not want to get into the GoSafe issues, as we have covered them with the Garda before. Apart from those issues, there is a whole series of cases caught in a quagmire. It was reported in today's paper that individuals have been able to avoid conviction as a result of documents not being produced in Irish. Has Ms Murdock any comments? Is her organisation in a position to go through the statute with a fine toothcomb in order to flag any future potential loopholes that might emerge? Without doubt, when stuff like this happens, as politicians we have to accept our responsibility too. There are things that we all clearly missed in the drafting of the legislation or at the back end in its implementation.