Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The fixed charge and penalty points system is an important element of our overall road safety strategy and the Government is committed to ensuring the most effective and equitable system is in place to maintain public confidence in it. The Deputy will appreciate and has acknowledged that the Minister for Justice and Equality and I have responsibility for different parts of the system.  We jointly chair the criminal justice working group, the main function of which is to oversee and facilitate implementation of the recommendations of the Garda Inspectorate, which published a report on the operation of the fixed charge processing system in March last year.  The operation has improved significantly since June 2014, when a new Garda directive took effect, incorporating changes to the fixed charge cancellation policy on foot of the report.

Last week the Minister for Justice and Equality published a report from the Garda Professional Service Unit, GPSU, that examined the procedures, policy and decision making process for cancellations. It acknowledged improvements made in the system since June last year and made a number of recommendations which will be implemented by the appropriate bodies. Some of them will be referred to the criminal justice working group for consideration. More generally, the group has been involved in addressing the wide range of issues identified for improvement in the inspectorate's report and is continuing to make progress on the recommendations that remain to be implemented.

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