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

I remind Deputy Broughan of the series of reforms I have initiated and the range of legislation I have enacted since I became Minister for Justice and Equality. When took up my position, I said that radical change was needed in the justice area and in policing. That is what I have been doing. I have been intent on ensuring that there is more transparency and more objective mechanisms. Deputies continually talk about taking politics out of policing. That is what I attempted to do by ensuring that the Police Authority is a robust body. It is important that we allow that body to do its work.

I did not mislead the Deputy or the House when answering his parliamentary questions. I gave the information that was available to me at the time. I said that, in the context of the original letter of June 2016, no convictions had been impacted upon by what happened in cases where people were above the alcohol level. Clearly, the situation that arose was one where people were either saying they had done tests that they had not or were incorrectly putting them through. Questions arise about supervision and training. Questions also arise as to whether people, because of the demands on them, did not input the figures immediately after a checkpoint.

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