Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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276. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the control measures which have been put in place by An Garda Síochána to ensure that the practice of non-issuance of manual summonses for fixed charge notices and fixed penalty notices has ceased; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3232/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is aware that An Garda Síochána carried out internal examinations into (i) a range of issues relating to Fixed Charge Notices (FCNs) and road traffic summonses and (ii) the recording of breath tests at Mandatory Alcohol Testing (MAT) (now Mandatory Intoxicant Testing/MIT) checkpoints, culminating in the production of reports by Assistant Garda Commissioner, Michael O'Sullivan, on 11 August 2017. These reports were submitted to the Department on 31 August and published on 6 September.

Following the consideration of these reports by the Department, further clarification was sought from An Garda Síochána in relation to the implementation of the proposed solutions relating to the issue of manual summonses. I am advised by An Garda Síochána that an IT solution has been deployed to enable the Manual Summons Report to be delivered directly to the mailbox of each relevant District Officer with effect from 1 November 2017 and to the investigating member with effect from December 2017.

An Garda Síochána has also indicated that it has been considering an IT solution that would reduce the number of FCN offence codes that require manual summonses/manual intervention. The Garda National Roads Policing Bureau has been reviewing the number of FCN offence codes currently in use in view of the significant volume of codes in existence (614), however if the number of codes is reduced, this will increase the number of FCNs that proceed to manual summons and will increase the number of summonses that will require manual intervention. I have asked my officials to seek a further update on this matter from An Garda Síochána.

As the Deputy will be aware, Crowe Horwath was selected by the Policing Authority to undertake a quality assurance review on the remedial actions taken by An Garda Síochána in response to the FCN/summons and MAT issues and the ensuing report was published in November 2017. The Crowe Horwath report recommended that the Criminal Justice (Fixed Charge Processing System) Working Group (the Working Group) should examine its FCN/summons’ recommendations to identify and bring forward further improvements to the FCPS that can be made. Prior to the publication of the Crowe Horwath report, An Garda Síochána formally requested the Working Group to examine the findings of its internal FCN/summons’ examination and I understand that the recommendations/findings contained in both reports relevant to the Working Group's remit will be discussed at the Working Group’s next meeting on 31 January 2018.

My Department continues to maintain ongoing, close contact with An Garda Síochána and the Policing Authority in relation to these road traffic enforcement issues.