Treacy under fire over driver's speeding fine

The Minister of State, Mr Noel Treacy, was criticised by Labour yesterday after it emerged that his driver had been convicted of travelling at 95 miles per hour in a 60-mile zone. Mr Treacy was particularly criticised for his "lack of contrition" when discussing the issue on RTÉ radio.

The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture was being driven to the Dáil on September 10th last when gardaí stopped the car near Mountrath, Co Laois. His driver, Mr James Kirwan, was convicted of speeding and fined €500.

Mr Treacy was not available for comment yesterday, but a spokeswoman said: "Minister Treacy is sorry that this incident happened and the matter has been dealt with by the courts."

On Morning Ireland yesterday, the Galway TD said he worked 120 hours a week and was operating to a "very, very tight schedule". While he regretted the incident, the driver was a professional in a very roadworthy car on a good road. It was a beautiful day.

"The visibility was very good. He [the driver\] knew where he was going. He knew what he had to do and obviously he was doing what he was told - to get me there as quick as possible."

Mr Treacy said he was not aware that the driver was exceeding the speed limit. "When you are a passenger in a motor car and you are reading a file you are not going to be looking over at the speedometer. I regret very much that we had to exert ourselves on that day but that is the requirement of office, that you must do your best to be available to the people."

Mr Treacy's "lack of contrition" would shock members of the public, said Ms Róisín Shortall, Labour's spokeswoman on transport. "It seems that Government ministers believe that speeding laws are only for 'the little people' and that they should not apply to busy Government ministers," she said.

Neither the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, who has been campaigning against speeding, nor Mr Pat Costello, chief executive of the National Safety Council, would comment.

During last year's election campaign, reporters following the Taoiseach's cavalcade said he had travelled at speeds of up to 95 m.p.h. When this was suggested to him, Mr Ahern replied: "Ah no. We were going slow today. When we are in the car we try to keep to the speed limit. When we are walking we break it."