Mr. John Twomey:

I refer to the matter of the Kilrush District Court. Any such issues raised are of particular concern to us. We examine each and every one of those cases in detail and we ask ourselves a number of questions. Do the points raised impact on the law? Invariably the issues raised will follow two lines. One line will be to address the legislation and the second will be to address the process. In the matter of the Kilrush District Court case and other cases, we are happy that it is a matter of the process more so than the legislation. We are happy that the legislation is sound and that it stands.

This project has been running since 2010 so we are four years down the road. There have been lots of prosecutions. Any legislation is open to a defence. We do not have a particular concern about the legislation. A number of issues related to the process were raised on that day and some of those process issues related to An Garda Síochána because we are the prosecutors while GoSafe personnel appear as witnesses. It is a matter for the Garda superintendent and the prosecution to ensure that all the proofs are in place. The number of issues arising on that day have been addressed. The cases have been put back to a later date. The inspector from the fixed charge penalty office will be present in court to address any of the issues the District Court judge may raise. At this stage we are satisfied that we can address the issues that have been raised in the court but like everything, the situation can change from case to case and from issue to issue. We are reasonably happy at this stage that we can address any of the issues raised by the court.