Andrew Carey
THE garda whistle blower, Sergeant Maurice McCabe, has told The Committee of Public Accounts of his experience as a member of the Garda Siochána and the concerns he had around the penalty point system.
Chairman of the Committee John McGuinness stated after the meeting that the Committee got a unique insight into the way the fixed charge system worked at an operational level and that this insight will help the Committee as it examines the C&AG Report on this matter.
This, according to Deputy McGuinness “led him to give evidence” and “in that regard the evidence focused on the systems, practices and procedures of the penalty point system and patterns in the cancellation of points”.
The committee, chaired by Deputy McGuinness and vice chaired By Limerick TD Kieran O’Donnell, met in private session this Thursday afternoon and took evidence in private session from Sergeant Maurice McCabe, who had already provided the Committee with documentation on the cancellation of fixed charges by an Garda Siochána.
Deputy McGuinness outlined that the session was in private and was conducted in within strict legal parameters that had been set down in legal advice given to the Committee.
“No Garda officer was named, third parties who had tickets cancelled were not named, no instance was cited where a member of the force, a member of the public, or any outside body was accused of acting wrongly”.
He added that “the evidence of Sargent McCabe focused on his experience as a member of the Garda Siochána and the concerns he had around the penalty point system, which led him to give evidence. In that regard the evidence focused on the systems, practices and procedures of the penalty point system and patterns in the cancellation of points, as referenced in the C and AG report.
“I want to thank Garda McCabe for his evidence to the Committee and I know that many of the issues that he raised will now be the subject of further investigation by the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission.
“The Committee will now consider this evidence as part of its on-going examination of the systems in place to manage the fixed charge notice system and on whether weaknesses in the system, as outlined in the C and AG report, may have led to a loss of revenue to the Exchequer.”
