Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 March 2015
332. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to provide for discussion of the recent report of the Garda professional standards unit into the cancellation of fixed charge notices; her reason for not publishing a redacted version of the second report; her plans to introduce legislative changes on foot of the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10310/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, on 27 January, I published the Report of the Garda Professional Standards Unit Examination of the Procedures, Policy and Decision Making Processes in Relation to Cancellations on the Fixed Charge Processing System of Road Traffic Offences along with an Internal Audit Report which was forwarded to me by the Garda Commissioner. Following consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and in keeping with the Garda Commissioner's recommendation, a separate volume of the report was not published as it contains extensive personal information including information which may be the subject of further investigation. In light of this, the publication of a heavily redacted version of the report would not have been straightforward and would not have added to overall understanding of the issues concerned.
Insofar as the recommendations with respect to certain legislative and related cross-cutting aspects of the fixed charge processing system outlined in the report are concerned, I have referred these to the Criminal Justice (FCPS) Working Group for further examination. This group was set up to take forward the recommendations of the Garda Inspectorate on the FCPS and is jointly chaired by the Departments of Justice and Equality, and Transport, Tourism and Sport. The Deputy will appreciate that any legislative amendments to the Road Traffic Acts, are a matter, in the first instance, for my colleague the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.
The Deputy will be aware that, at the time of publication of the report, both myself and the Garda Commissioner issued detailed statements in relation to its findings and recommendations. I expect there will continue to be opportunities to discuss all road safety matters in this House.
