Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I come from a family that is very proud of the integrity, professionalism and dedication of gardaí. My grandfather, James Fehilly, was a member of the IRA who fought for the freedom of this country and was one of the first gardaí to take up duty. He served in Ballina and Cahir and retired in Rush, County Dublin. As I grew up in Boyle I was always confident of the professionalism, dedication and integrity of gardaí who defended the State in difficult times. I am not a politician who takes potshots at the professionalism of gardaí in doing their difficult duty. I wish Mr. Martin Callinan and his former officers well now and in the future. They have served the State.

Penalty points were introduced in 2005 and have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. The Minister said, “There must be no question mark hanging over the integrity of the fixed charge notice system...” Gardaí should have impartiality to pursue the matter of penalty points in a transparent manner, but what happened in the system was wrong. I have four penalty points. I had six. This time next year I hope to be down to two and in 2016, before the next general election, I hope to be canvassing with none. Two points is two too many. I probably drove too fast and I took the charge. Nobody should be able to escape penalty points. That is only fair. I was given two, if not four, of my penalty points on the Lucan Road. I was driving to Leinster House at 6 p.m. for a vote. The speed limit goes from 80 kph to 60 kph before coming to the M50, which I think is unfair, and I was pulled in by gardaí. I gave them my name and was given two points. I could have said I was on the way to vote in the Dáil. I cannot understand why that law still applies because, unlike my constituency colleague who was not travelling to Leinster House but driving around Roscommon, I think it is wrong. However, he decided he was above the law and that it did not apply to him because he was a Deputy and well known. That is wrong. He said it was corrupt, yet he is one of the Independent Deputies who highlighted the issue. He should not lecture Deputies on how to conduct their business because, in his own words, he was corrupt. He got off and was not given four penalty points. That is wrong.

In 2005, 396 lives were lost on the roads. In 2012, 162 lives were lost. Unfortunately, that number rose to 190 last year, but I understand the number will be lower this year. However, many thousands of lives have been saved, which is welcome.

What is the Minister's view of the comments by the Data Protection Commissioner on the obligations of An Garda Síochána to protect the privacy of people's personal information held in the penalty points system? This is a serious question which needs to be addressed. It is not always a case of black and white. This is a grey area.

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