asked the Minister for Justice (a) what regulations exist governing the availability to litigants of the evidence of members of the Garda Síochána who are in a position to give evidence in cases of civil actions arising out of traffic accidents; (b) is he aware that the regulations prevent members of the Force from attending consultations with the legal advisers of such litigants or from discussing or clarifying their evidence before the trial of the action; and (c) if, in view of the importance to the parties involved in such accidents of being fully advised as to their rights he will make such amendments to the regulations as may be necessary to enable members of the Force to attend such consultations or discussions.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Garda Evidence in Road Accident Actions.
92.
There are no statutory regulations governing this matter, but the practice is as follows:
Persons involved in road accidents, their legal advisers or insurers, or other interested parties may on receipt of a written application, be supplied with an abstract of police report, and copies of statements of witnesses, subject to the following conditions:—
(i) that the accident has been investigated by the Garda and the necessary particulars are already ascertainable from Garda records; (ii) that criminal proceedings, if any, arising out of the accident, have been finally disposed of, or it is decided not to take such proceedings.
A fee of 10s. is payable for the abstract of the Garda report and a fee of 5s. for each statement supplied.
Apart from the foregoing, no information may be supplied except with the prior sanction of the Commissioner. I am informed that there is no record of any such sanction having been sought in recent years.
As regards the last part of the question, I am not aware that the existing practice imposes any serious hardship on litigants and I am not satisfied that any change is necessary or desirable.
Would the Minister undertake to examine this question again? I am suggesting to him that a difficult situation does arise where there is a garda witness whose statement is not made available to the litigants. The difficulty arises for the litigant who wishes to be advised when the independent evidence of the garda is not available to his advisers. I should like the Minister to look into it, at any event.
It is one of those things that I would always be prepared to discuss with the Incorporated Law Society if they thought it necessary to approach me about it.
I assure the Minister that difficulties arise.