Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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138. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 64 of 29 March 2017, if she has the report available on the breakdown by Garda district and district court area, of the breath test discrepancies disclosed on 23 March 2017 for each of the years in question; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24582/17]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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139. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 64 of 29 March 2017, when the Garda report on breath test discrepancies, by county and district, will be available to Dáil Éireann, in view of the fact it has already been discussed by the Garda Commissioner and lower garda ranks and that some percentages have already been revealed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24583/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 138 and 139 together.

The Deputy will be aware, further to parliamentary question number 64 of 29 March 2017, that I have requested a report from the Garda authorities on the matters raised by the Deputy and will contact the Deputy directly on receipt of this report.

As I have indicated to the House previously, An Garda Síochána has confirmed that it has put solutions in place to deal with the procedural and practice issues that have been detected to ensure that the errors that have been identified in relation to breath tests/Mandatory Alcohol Testing do not recur.

I am informed that 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. Data from the device is now used to verify the total number of breath tests conducted at each checkpoint.

The Deputy will also be aware that in addition to outlining the issues, how they had come to light, and the remedial steps taken so far, the Commissioner has:

- announced the restructuring of traffic policing with the creation of a new Roads Policing Unit to be led by Assistant Commissioner Mick Finn;

- announced the creation of a dedicated team under newly appointed Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan to investigate in detail the MATs issue, including with a view to identifying and holding responsible for their actions any Garda members, whether at junior, supervisory or management level, who acted improperly; and

- committed to forwarding the report of this investigation to the Policing Authority and Department of Justice and Equality when completed. An interim report was forwarded by An Garda Síochána to the Policing Authority in advance of the Authority's recent public meeting on roads policing, which took place on 27 April 2017.

Assistant Commissioner Finn previously outlined new arrangements agreed with the Medical Bureau on Roads Safety (MBRS) to the effect that the MBRS would supply An Garda Síochána with its data on breath-testing devices on a quarterly basis, in order to ensure an independent benchmark against which Garda data can be measured. The MBRS informed me at this week's meeting of the Ministerial Committee on Road Safety that the tender for new preliminary breath testing equipment is now live and it is hoped that all stages of the process will be completed by early 2018. New equipment which is available in the market place has the capacity to record the time, GPS location and number of persons breath-tested, and has the capacity to download the information automatically, reducing the chances of errors occurring in the data.

The Deputy will be aware that I have written to the Chairperson of the Policing Authority in accordance with section 62O(6) of the Garda Síochána Act, 2005 (as amended) to report to me on its oversight of the issues which have arisen in relation to mandatory alcohol testing over the coming period. In particular, I requested that an investigation should be conducted to examine all issues arising, addressing to the extent possible the reasons why the issues have arisen; the incidence and scale of the issues; and the solutions implemented to ensure there is no recurrence. It is expected that the Authority will engage outside expertise to carry out this work and they Authority has informed me that they are in discussions with the Office of Government Procurement to do so. The Deputy will appreciate that I need to await the conclusion of the Authority's work in this area before I am in a position to comment further on this matter.

The Deputy will also be aware that there is ongoing engagement between An Garda Síochána and the Policing Authority in relation to this matter, including in the context of the Authority's recent public meeting with the Garda Commissioner.

More broadly, the Deputy will be aware that I received Government approval last month to establish a Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. The Commission is charged to undertake a comprehensive examination of all aspects of policing, including all functions currently carried out by An Garda Síochána. Earlier this month, I was delighted to appoint Ms Kathleen O'Toole, a former Chief Inspector of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, among other positions, to the position of chair of the Commission. Only last week, I announced the full membership of the Commission and published the final terms of reference for the Commission following approval by Government. The new Commission will provide a critical focus on the accountability of An Garda Síochána and will complement and enhance the valuable and important work that is being spearheaded by the Policing Authority, the Inspectorate and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.