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Justice Minister Alan Shatter today published the report he received from the Garda Commissioner into allegations which were made of improper cancellation of fixed charge notices by some members of An Garda Siochana.  The Minister also published a report by the Garda Professional Standards Unit of an examination of the processes and systems in place to deal with the cancellation of Fixed Charge Notices.

Minister Shatter spoke to MerrionStreet.ie about the findings of the reports...

Publishing the Reports, the Minister said:

Since controversy arose relating to the cancellation of Fixed Charge Notices,  I have been committed to ensuring the maximum transparency possible with regard to the publication of any Report furnished to me of any investigation conducted into allegations made.  An Garda Siochana holds a position of enormous trust and responsibility in our communities and it is of paramount importance that the public can be confident  that the Garda Fixed Charge Notice system is,  and is seen to be, fair and impartial and that any allegation of wrongdoing by a member of An Garda Siochana is treated seriously and properly investigated.

I took extremely seriously allegations of improper cancellation of Fixed Charge Notices made against some members of An Garda Siochana.  I referred these allegations to the Garda Commissioner and requested that they be rigorously  investigated and that a Report on the investigation conducted be furnished to me.   Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’Mahoney was appointed on 31 October 2012 to conduct an examination of the allegations and reported on 28 March 2013.  He led a team  including 5 Chief Superintendents, 6 Superintendents, together with their respective staff, and an incident room staff of 7, and together with this team, conducted a detailed examination of the allegations.

I have received Assistant Garda Commissioner O’Mahoney’s Report relating to the allegations of improper cancellations of Fixed Charge Notices and have very carefully considered its contents. I am today publishing it.  I am also publishing the subsequent Report of the Garda Professional Standards Unit.

On the basis of legal advice from the Attorney General, for reasons of personal privacy and data protection,  appendices detailing each allegation made and the detailed outcome of the investigation in each case, which contain names and other identifying information, are not being published by me but, with appropriate redactions, are being furnished by me to the Joint Oireachtas Justice,  Defence and Equality Committee for its consideration. It is a matter for that Committee whether it deems it appropriate, to facilitate it properly undertaking the task I have requested, to publish the appendices in their redacted form. It is also open to that Committee, if it considers it necessary to facilitate its work, to request that I furnish to it, under parliamentary privilege, the appendices in un-redacted form and to consider whether it is necessary to its work that they be published.

The Minister said that there were seven essential principles which should apply to the Fixed Charge Notice (FCN) system:

• There must be no question mark hanging over the integrity of the Fixed Charge Notice system and in the application of penalty points.
• No individual should receive preferential treatment because of their perceived status, relationship or celebrity.
• The law and any discretionary application of it to individuals must be administered fairly, with compassion and common sense.
• No member of the Garda Force should feel compelled by a person’s position, relationship or celebrity status to treat that person any more or less favourably than any other person.
• There must be proper oversight and transparency to the discretionary decision making process and the applicable rules and procedures must be fully complied with.
• All statutory provisions, regulations, rules, protocols and procedures applicable to the termination of Fixed Charge Notices must be readily accessible to all members of the Garda Force and the circumstances, factors and procedures applicable to the termination of Fixed Charge Notices should be detailed clearly on the Garda website for the information of members of the public.
• Where application is made to terminate a fixed ticket charge, where possible and appropriate, material to support any application made should be sought while understanding in some circumstances no such material may exist or be obtainable.