Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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131. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details on measures his Department has taken or will take in order to rectify malpractice in the penalty points system, particularly in view of the recent Garda report which found that abuses are still occurring in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4349/15]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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The Department has a major stake in the fixed charge notice system. The nine reports produced since the system was introduced in 2002 found that senior gardaí were wilfully ignoring policy on the fixed charge notice system and unfairly and inconsistently applying it. While I acknowledge that the Department of Justice and Equality is responsible for the implementation of the system, should the Minister not play a more proactive role in this area?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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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.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Why does the Minister think it took Sergeant Maurice McCabe to actually bring it to the attention of the Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Equality in August and September? The recommendations about which the Minister is talking are the same recommendations we have received several times. We had the same recommendations included in the GPSU's report which came out at the same time as the O'Mahony report in 2013; we had the same recommendations included in the Garda Inspectorate's report in March 2014 and, now, we are receiving the same recommendations again. What makes the Minister think they will actually be applied this time?

The Minister has a serious problem. While I understand it is not only a problem for him, it is impacting on his Department because the system is not working in the way it should. The biggest problem of all is indiscipline among the senior ranks of the Garda. The Minister will remember that the Guerin report was at great pains to point to the fact that in Bailieborough indiscipline seemed to be only an issue for rank and file gardaí, not for management in terms of supervision, which is where the problem starts.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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On the points the Deputy has made about the current status of the recommendations, since the last set, policies have been implemented to deal with the issues to which he refers. Only three individuals have authorised the cancellation of penalty points since 16 June 2014.

On the status of different recommendations, we have two reports at play, as the Deputy noted. The first is the report which came from the criminal justice working group. To answer the Deputy's question on how we will look at the status of implementation of these recommendations, it is my understanding that in March a review will be undertaken of where each of the recommendations stands. That will happen in a number of weeks and we have touched on what some of the proposals are.

On recommendations that affect my Department and that came from the GPSU's report, they have been shared with me, obviously, because they feed into a report from a committee that I co-chair.

On legislative changes that might be needed to the operation of fixed charge notices, my Department will look at this issue. Before Christmas, when I became aware of an issue that was legislative in nature in the implementation of penalty points, I acted swiftly and in a transparent manner to deal with it.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Confining final decisions on terminations on the PULSE system to three people in Thurles is a good idea because, obviously, senior gardaí around the country proved themselves to be irresponsible enough that they could not be left with responsibility for the system. Will the Minister explain how things are going to get better if the senior ranks of the Garda remain undisciplined? Of all those who have actually misbehaved, does the Minister know of any who has been sanctioned? If there have been disciplinary procedures, does the Minister know what they are? In the O'Mahony report three gardaí were picked out as being very serious offenders in the system and there was an internal investigation into what they had done. Does the Minister know what the sanctions were and what was the outcome? As long as the Government refuses to have sanctions and proper disciplinary processes in place, the indiscipline in the senior ranks will continue.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As I said, the fact that so much centralisation of decision making has taken place shows how important this matter is to the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Equality. I am absolutely clear that not implementing the regime or policies in place is a disciplinary matter and I am sure it will be treated as such by the Garda Commissioner. Both the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Equality have made clear the need for this to change and I believe the signs of this change are evident.

On the specific point the Deputy put to me about the role of my Department, to be clear, in March the criminal justice working group which my Department co-chairs will be reviewing the status of each of the proposals in the last report. At that point, we will understand how they are being implemented in terms of the large changes needed. I have always been very clear that we have to have a penalty points system that is seen to be fair and efficient. The Minister for Justice and Equality and I are committed to making this happen.