Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is no issue about confidence. Serious allegations were made about the penalty points system. These allegations were investigated; there is a report and now a process by which it can be dealt with and people can be questioned in regard to it. That is the appropriate way of dealing with the matter. A set of recommendations which arose from the report are being implemented and there are some disciplinary procedures being pursued. This is an issue which was brought to light and addressed by the Minister for Justice and Equality; an investigation took place into it and there is a report and action to follow up on it.

There are issues which are of legitimate public concern about how gardaí operate. As I said here before, most people's contact with gardaí or the law is in connection to road traffic offences. There are legitimate issues of public concern that the application of the law in respect of road traffic offences is applied evenly and fairly and is also applied, in some instances, with a degree of common sense. Let us take the idea, for example, that a penalty point is attached to somebody's licence and the only way it can be addressed is by the individual going to court, no matter how wrong the application of that penalty point might be. I do not think any fair-minded person believes that is the appropriate way to deal with the matter.

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