Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this opportunity to address these important and very disturbing issues. First of all I want to stress again, as I have already and as the Taoiseach did during Leaders’ Questions, the utmost seriousness with which the Government and I as Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality regard these issues.

It is essential that the Government, the Oireachtas and all our citizens can trust members of An Garda Síochána to carry out their duties fairly, impartially and in accordance with the law. The public has to be able to believe statistics and all information provided by An Garda Síochána. It is essential that we get the answers we need and I am totally committed to doing so. The issues that have been raised go to the heart of policing in the State. They go to the heart of public confidence in our police force and the area of policing involved, that of roads and traffic, is one that affects every one of our citizens. So many of us have been affected by tragedy on the roads, be it the death of a friend, colleague or family member. We need to know as citizens that those charged with enforcing the laws designed to ensure our safety do so to the highest standards.

I met the Garda Commissioner yesterday and I conveyed the Government’s very deep concern at the revelations of recent days. The facts we now know about how breath tests were being conducted and the operation of the fixed charge system are completely unacceptable and raise very troubling questions. The scale and detail of these issues became apparent last week at the Garda press conference and I am determined that all the facts will emerge.

An anonymous complaint was made to the Road Safety Authority in April 2014, outlining a number of issues which included the operation of mandatory alcohol testing, MAT, checkpoints. This complaint was referred to An Garda Síochána by the then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. An Garda Síochána indicated in a detailed letter to my Department in May 2014 that it had looked into the claims regarding MAT checkpoints and was satisfied that correct procedures were in place to account for MAT checkpoints that ultimately did go ahead. Every MAT checkpoint, as we know, must be authorised by an inspector. In June of last year my Department was made aware that some discrepancies had been identified in respect of MAT and that An Garda Síochána was commencing a national audit. An Garda Síochána indicated in June 2016 that no issues stemmed from this audit with regard to the performance of MAT checkpoints or prosecutions arising from same. It also set out the new procedures it had already introduced to facilitate the accurate recording of breath tests and outlined that an IT solution had been developed and would be implemented towards the end of 2016.

Following this preliminary notification to my Department last year, updates were sought from An Garda Síochána by officials in my Department on a regular basis as to the progress of the audit that was then taking place. An Garda Síochána indicated in February 2017 that it was anticipated that the national audit would be finalised in the second quarter of 2017. Although that audit has not yet been finalised, An Garda Síochána announced figures at its press conference relating to the discrepancy between the number of test conducted at MAT checkpoints as per its own records compared with the records held by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety. No indication was given as to the scale of this issue at the time of the June 2016 letter and indeed, it is clear from what the Commissioner told me yesterday and from her public statements, that it was not known at that time to Garda management either. It was in order to assess the scale of the problem that the national audit of MAT was launched. I did not become aware of the huge discrepancy in the breath test figures until it was revealed at last week’s Garda press conference.

Regarding the issue of fixed charge notices, my Department was informed in June 2016 of an error relating to summonses having been incorrectly issued to persons who should have received a fixed charge notice for the offence of not having a valid national car test, NCT, certificate, which became a fixed charge offence in December 2014. An Garda Síochána indicated that following on from those initial findings, further inquiries were being carried out relating to all summonses issued for other fixed charge offences. Colleagues should note that a press statement was issued that day by An Garda Síochána about this issue. In that statement, An Garda Síochána confirmed that it had commenced a review of prosecutions relating to all fixed charge offences. The letter set out the remedial actions already taken by An Garda Síochána at that stage, which included withdrawing prosecutions in any affected cases and putting in place a short-term IT solution within four weeks while a longer-term IT solution was being developed.

Following the preliminary notifications of these problems to my Department last year, updates were sought on a regular basis as to the progress of the review taking place into the fixed charge processing system issues covering the period referred to in the letter from An Garda Síochána, from 1 January 2014 to 27 May 2016. The results of this review were communicated to my Department in a letter received on 14 March 2017.

The letter indicated that a total of 1,781 cases had been identified where persons had been convicted in situations where they had been incorrectly summonsed to court, either without first having been issued a fixed charge notice or having been issued and paid a fixed charge notice. The letter also set out – this is important – that consultation remained ongoing with the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, with whose office there had been ongoing consultation and the Courts Service in regard to commencing the process of setting aside the convictions in the courts. That engagement with the DPP is ongoing.

An Garda Síochána also advised in that letter, received recently on 14 March, that the DPP had indicated that the review should be extended to include cases before 2014 and that this process was now under way. That, of course, is why the audit was meant to be ongoing until June of this year. That was to be when I was to expect the final report. That is when I had been advised I would get the final report. I became aware of the figure of some 14,700 cases where a conviction took place after an incorrect procedure when An Garda Síochána made that information public last week. It is matter of great regret to me, as I know it is to everyone in this House, that anyone should be summoned to court inadvertently, with all of the consequences that follow for individuals. It is absolutely critical now that these mistakes be resolved and that the necessary remedial actions be taken.

As for the fixed charge penalty notice, FCPN, at my meeting with the Commissioner yesterday she assured me that arrangements are being put in place in regard to the persons affected. All of these cases will be appealed by An Garda Síochána to ensure the courts set aside these convictions, as they have to. All fines will, of course, be reimbursed and penalties will be removed, and all of those affected will be contacted directly by An Garda Síochána. Individual letters will be sent to all the people concerned and they will begin to be issued on 3 April.

The Commissioner also outlined to me the IT and operational solutions that have been put in place to ensure that these practices would cease. In fact, at the ministerial meeting yesterday, which was scheduled ahead of all of this emerging, both the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, and I were assured by both Professor Cusack and all the other people present that the new procedures were in place, that we could be confident about the new procedures and that there are changes being made to the machines, using GPS and further information, so the kind of mistake associated with the technical attributes of the devices can never happen again.

In the case of mandatory alcohol tests, An Garda Síochána initially put in place new paper-based recording and verification processes and, in November 2016, a new specific data-recording IT upgrade was installed on the Garda PULSE system. The net effect of the new IT upgrade was that personnel now have to record the serial number of the device used for each breath test plus the meter reading before and after the checkpoint was concluded. This, apparently, was not being done before. It is clearly only one of the explanations for this situation. Data from the device are now used to verify the total number of breath tests conducted at each checkpoint.

The focus now, however, has to be on what is being done to get to the full truth of what transpired and the accountability that must be brought to bear. Clearly, there is a need for an investigation to hold responsible those people, at all levels of the Garda organisation, who allowed such large discrepancies in the breath-testing figures to arise. The Commissioner announced an internal investigation yesterday, as colleagues will be aware. Following consideration and discussion at Cabinet today, the Government has decided that there should be an independent investigation, and consultations will now take place with the Policing Authority on how to achieve that. I met the chairman of the authority, Ms Josephine Feehily, yesterday and informed her that I was formally referring both of these matters to that body under the Garda Síochána Act. The chairman informed me at that point that the authority will have an independent professional audit undertaken of the steps taken to resolve these issues. That is an essential part of providing the necessary public reassurance. The clear view of the Government following my briefing of its members at today's Cabinet meeting was that these revelations have given rise to the most serious concerns, not just among public representatives but also among members of the public. The Government accepts fully that we need explanations. That is why we are making use of the full legal mechanisms in place to ensure that we will establish the full facts and that there can be accountability in this area.

It is absolutely essential that the process of reform be rigorously implemented in An Garda Síochána, and that it be seen to be implemented, including through close oversight by the Policing Authority. As the Taoiseach stated earlier, the Government believes the level of public concern regarding some issues affecting the Garda Síochána is now so profound that it is time to conduct a thorough, comprehensive and independent root-and-branch review of An Garda Síochána. Quite a number of colleagues have already called for this. This is clearly a proposal that will require further detailed consideration by the Government. As the Taoiseach said, any such proposal should command widespread support in the Oireachtas and accordingly be the subject of consultation with the Opposition and, ultimately, approval by the Oireachtas.

We in government accept that change is required. As Minister for Justice and Equality, I have introduced the most significant reforms in policing since the foundation of the State. Just last week we had the first assistant commissioner fully appointed by an independent body. We have the Policing Authority, which represents a radical change in the oversight of policing in this country. At the end of this year, its second year, it is subject to review. The body, under the legislation, is to inform me how it is working and whether there are any changes it would like to see. I will await its report later on this year. Additional powers have been given to GSOC and greater civilianisation has been implemented. We need to do more, however. I hope that Opposition Deputies will accept the offer to work with the Government on this and contribute to achieving the policing service we all wish to see.

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