Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A note will suffice. It is an issue that has cropped up in several meetings and it is not specific to the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The next issue might require legislative change, which might be the answer. In one's local District Court, one will see 20 gardaí. Is it not possible for the station sergeant to give the evidence on behalf of all the station's gardaí, instead of 20 gardaí lining up? On the topic of the District Court, I have stated in the committee on previous occasions that some of the best value for money in any section of any State organisation is the amount paid to inspectors who present cases in District Courts throughout the country. The inspectors receive a small allowance for the extra work. In the course of a day, there might be 50 or 100 cases, with ten solicitors coming and going, and one inspector is able to handle every case. I say this as a tribute to them. If that service had to be provided by the matching legal service of the defence, it would cost millions of euro. It is a tremendously efficient system, which, I am sure, is good training for inspectors to understand the legal system. Can anything be done to use the Garda's manpower in order that gardaí do not have to sit in court? I refer to speeding fines and offences, for example.