Mr. Michael Finn:

The data at that time were purely manual records. We went back to establish if we could verify any of that information. I do not have it right now. I have checked in the bureau where I work and that information is there but it was based on manual records. Back then we did not have the IT systems to support it and it was based on the reports we got in from the divisions around the country. Subsequently, we brought in the electronic version to coincide with the 2010 Act where the mandatory alcohol testing checkpoints came in, which had to be prescribed by legislation.

By way of explanation there is a small bit of logic in why divisional officers schedule checkpoints.

One could not do a mandatory alcohol test unless it was scheduled. The superintendent had to make out the schedule in advance. If he or she said there would be just two for the night and the first was not completed for operational reasons, there would be other checkpoints to give the gardaí some options. Perhaps it was an over-ambitious scheduling, but those checkpoints had to be scheduled and authorised legally before they could be conducted. That might go some way towards an explanation as to why we scheduled more than we did.