Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are reports in this morning's media that the Garda Commissioner has demanded the return of files from the Committee of Public Accounts with regard to the penalty points debacle. I hope the Tánaiste agrees that this a disturbing development. We can recap what has happened. Two Garda whistleblowers were very concerned about practices surrounding the termination of penalty points. They reported concerns to the internal Garda confidential recipient in March 2012 and the issue went nowhere, so the whistleblowers were essentially stonewalled for months. In autumn 2012, under section 62 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the whistleblowers passed their evidence to Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, as they are entitled to do. No investigation that we are aware of had taken place within An Garda Síochána until the information was passed. The people in question were discredited and talked down afterwards. An internal Garda investigation that followed was not in the public interest, and there should have been an independent investigation. When the results of the investigation were published, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, sought to discredit the whistleblowers and downplay the extent of the scandal.

There were ongoing attempts afterwards to discredit the Garda whistleblowers, but they have now been vindicated. We now have the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which reveals that one in five motorists facing offences got off and half of all summonses that should have been served for road traffic offences were not carried through. It was a widespread problem and in some districts there were 50 times as many terminations as in other districts in the State. It was a major issue. We have seen revelations that senior journalists and one State solicitor allegedly had penalty points terminated.

The public must know all the facts. Will the Tánaiste ensure that the Committee of Public Accounts can do its work with the evidence it has and reveal the full facts of what was a scandal? Thanks to the whistleblowers, such events should not be repeated, as there are now clear directives to all gardaí concerning the termination of penalty points and the framework in which gardaí operate. Will the Tánaiste stand by the whistleblowers and protect them from this latest assault?

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