New penalty point cancellations face checks for abuse

A Garda inquiry into fresh allegations that motorists were continuing to have penalty points terminated for no legitimate reason is expected to conclude that some who enjoyed multiple terminations in the past have had further points cancelled since new reforms were introduced in June.

Each of the cases is now being examined to establish whether the more recent cancellations were for spurious or legitimate reasons.

Irrespective of the outcome of those examinations, any finding that those who abused the systems before were continuing to enjoy cancellations in the period after the system was significantly tightened up will come as a major embarrassment to the Garda and the Government.

The Irish Times understands the ongoing audit by the Garda’s Professional Standards Unit (PSU) will make a series of recommendations aimed at tightening further the new procedures for terminating points.

Informed sources said while the recommendations would not be formulated until after the audit was completed in coming weeks, one will likely stipulate that any motorist applying for points to be cancelled should be checked to establish how many times they have enjoyed terminations in the past.

A Garda report into the penalty points termination scandal carried out under Assistant Commissioner John O’Mahoney and published early last year recommended that the previous records of those seeking terminations should be subjected to scrutiny.

In late August, whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe presented a dossier of fresh allegations to interim Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan with details that he said proved abuses of the system had continued, despite the raft of changes introduced in June.

As well as alleging those who had enjoyed multiple terminations were continuing to successfully apply to have further points cancelled, he also claimed that the rate at which points were being cancelled had slowed only marginally despite the controversy about the issue.

In June, and at the instigation of Ms O’Sullivan, new procedures were launched under which motorists seeking to have points cancelled were obliged to complete a form available from the Garda website and outline the reasons why they felt the points were unfair.

The biggest change introduced in June involved the removal of the discretion of individual gardaí to cancel points.

Decision-making on terminations was instead centralised to an office in Thurles, Co Tipperary, where only a small number of staff had the power to make the decision on any points cancellation application.

After he made his fresh allegations last month, Sgt McCabe was met by a Garda delegation which included members of the PSU and which was led by Assistant Commissioner John Twomey, who is in charge of traffic enforcement across the Garda.

Arising from that meeting, Sgt McCabe was asked to join the PSU to aid it in testing his new allegations by carrying out an audit of the new system. He is still assisting the unit three weeks later.

The audit into his allegations and the recommendations that flow from it will be completed within weeks, according to security sources.

A spokesman for the Garda said because the audit was continuing, the force could not comment. The spokesman confirmed the audit was being aided by a member outside the unit, but declined to say who that person was.