Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to indicate to the Tánaiste the basis for my concern about the timelines. In the statement on the timelines provided by senior management of An Garda Síochána, they outlined that it was on 24 February 2017 that a sample of data was received from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety. I asked the witnesses before the Committee on Justice and Equality today when they sought this information from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and was informed that they did so days in advance of 24 February 2017. In light of the fact the Garda did not seek information from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety for the southern audit and had not sought it for the national audit until that stage, even though the Garda was able to change its IT system on foot of the indications from that national audit, I am concerned that the contact with the Medical Bureau of Road Safety in February 2017 was prompted by an article in a newspaper. Taking into account that the Policing Authority was not told about this and, as I believe, the Tánaiste was not told about it, there may be some legitimacy to my concern.

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