Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In terms of the legislative process in the Oireachtas, we continue to update road traffic Acts, penalty point regulations and so on. Things continually evolve and change. Has Garda training changed to match those changes? I refer specifically to penalty points. Of course, An Garda Síochána gets updated on changes to same. When gardaí were being trained in Templemore college they were always taught about the principle of discretion. Discretion is very open ended. Has the whole idea of discretion been defined in any way? If someone is going to the maternity hospital, for example, to drop a wife or partner off, can a garda use discretion if he or she sees fit and not apply penalty points? Has An Garda Síochána updated that discretion criteria or is it on a whim?