McDowell accused of infringing GRA rights

The president of the Garda Representative Association has accused the Minister for Justice of infringing the constitutional rights of gardaí by attempting to stifle criticism of the penalty points system.

Mr Michael Kirby, president of the GRA, which represents rank and file gardaí, has criticised Mr McDowell for what he describes as the Minister's "attempt to deny the right of representative associations to speak on behalf of their members".

He also criticised Mr McDowell for failing to accept responsibility for the delays in introducing a computerised system for penalty points.

"We would reserve our right as any staff association or any trade union in this country to articulate our displeasure with any measure which would impact on the welfare of our members," Mr Kirby said.

He was speaking yesterday following comments made by Mr McDowell in relation to the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors' criticism of the operation of the points system.

On Tuesday Mr McDowell said the AGSI was "out of place and out of line" for warning that its members could not enforce the widening of the penalty points system until it was fully computerised. Delays in implementing the computerised system were outside his capacity, Mr McDowell added.

Mr Kirby said that any association representing gardaí was entitled to speak out on behalf of its members and he said he understood the AGSI's frustration with the current manual system.

While GRA members were not directly involved in the administration of the system, they did have to operate the points system on the roadside and did not want to have to enforce a scheme that wasn't working and would bring the system and the gardaí "into disrepute".

"Our members need to know that what they are doing had meaning. It has been conceded at senior management level in the gardaí that the manual system isn't functioning properly and there is a strong possibility that the system cannot cope with these new offences," he said.

Mr Kirby was referring to the Garda report leaked last month which said that the points system was "on the verge of collapse".

"The Minister seems more concerned about the leaking of a certain document that showed the problems of the system than getting the computer up and running," he said.

The GRA had never been given an adequate explanation for the delay, and he said he could not see any reason why the computers were not running already. The computerised system is not due to go live until mid-2004.

"Criticism must be levelled at Mr McDowell. He is not facing his responsibilities for the delays. Instead he is hiding behind the people who are trying to do their work and who have a constitutional right to point out certain flaws," Mr Kirby said.

The latest figures show that 15,496 speeding motorists have had penalty points added to their licences.