Garda asked Public Accounts Committee for private meeting

The Garda sergeant who has made new allegations about penalty points being cancelled wrote to the Public Accounts Committee yesterday reiterating his request to address a private meeting this week.

Sgt Maurice McCabe is the second whistleblower from within the Garda Síochána to have made claims about alleged misuse of cancellations for fixed-notice penalty points. In a letter to the committee yesterday Sgt McCabe said he warmly welcomed the appointment of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to investigate allegations on penalty points.

Restrictions on evidence
Nonetheless, Sgt McCabe stated he wished to address the meeting and outline the evidence he has on alleged penalty point misfeasance. He emphasised he would restrict his evidence to the general situation and not refer to specifics or individuals. "I would still like to attend the PAC meeting on Thursday in private to give evidence solely on the loss of revenue," he said.

The letter from Sgt McCabe was one of two pieces of correspondence before the committee in support of his attendance. The second was a letter from Transparency International which argued the PAC was within its legal rights and remits in inviting Sgt McCabe to attend a private hearing, at which he will outline his claim millions were lost to the exchequer by misuse of the penalty points system.

'Legal right'
The letter, signed by chief executive John Devitt, disclosed it has been in contact with Sgt McCabe since 2012 and he did not wish to give any evidence which "identifies individuals or [that would] substantiate allegations of corruption or fraud. "We respectively urge you to afford Sgt McCabe his legal right to address the committee in private . . . We call on the PAC's members to fulfil their role in hearing oral evidence that may substantiate the documentary evidence they have already accepted pertaining to the management of public finances."

In his letter Sgt McCabe said a “letter of support” had been issued this week from Assistant Commissioner Fintan Fanning at Garda headquarters which stated he had utilised the statutory provisions under the confidential reporting mechanism within An Garda Síochána. He said the letter stated he was a valuable employee and he told Garda management this week it was a pity this support had not been afforded a year earlier.