merrion street

Justice Minister Alan Shatter today referred the issue of claims made on individual penalty points cases to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

The cases were until recently being investigated by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The Minister said:

My fundamental concern has been to ensure that the penalty points system operates properly...New arrangements have been put in place to tighten up the procedures applicable to the discretionary cancellation of such charges and there is now in place an audited Garda oversight process....

Section 102 of the Garda Síochána Act provides that if the Minister considers it desirable in the public interest to do so he can request the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) to investigate certain matters relating to An Garda Síochána. It seems to me, particularly in the light of circumstances where allegations are being continuously made and the political controversy which An Garda Síochána finds itself at the centre of, that circumstances have now arisen where it is in the public interest to refer the allegations which are being made and the manner in which those allegations have been pursued, including issues relating to the preservation of the integrity of Garda records, to GSOC. I am making the necessary arrangement to do so.