A serving garda officer quashed penalty points for 10 members of his own family, according to a dossier compiled by a whistleblower that is currently being investigated by the Garda Commissioner.
The document also alleges that a garda inspector in Dublin quashed six tickets for one family outside his jurisdiction without consulting the garda who issued the penalty points.
Further claims show that a motorist caught driving at 220kmh in a 120kmh zone with no seat belt on was not issued with penalty points after the offence.
It also alleges that a judge and their spouse had four speeding tickets quashed between them.
The traffic offences outlined in the whistleblower’s report have been registered in the Garda Pulse system but in many instances not followed up with formal summons or fixed-notice tickets.
The Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has appointed Assistant Commissioner John O’Mahony to investigate the claims that more than 66,000 penalty points were quashed by gardai without following protocol
The new details that have emerged are sure to increase pressure on Justice Minister Alan Shatter to hold a public inquiry into how the Garda Pulse system is operated by members of the force.
Along with Mr Shatter, the whistleblower’s dossier has also been sent to the Taoiseach and the Garda Commissioner.
The two whistleblowers who reported their claims to the authorities have been formally censured by the Garda Commissioner and are barred from using the Garda Pulse system.
Last week, the Sunday Independent revealed that one of the whistleblowers had also compiled a 350-page report detailing more serious offences – including sexual offences and drug charges – that were not properly investigated by gardai.
Mr Shatter said last week that a solicitor acting on behalf of a garda sergeant has written to him regarding a number of allegations.
A spokeswoman said the Justice Department and the garda’s solicitor are still in correspondence on the issue and it would not be appropriate for them to comment at this time.
Senior gardai say that in many instances of the reported quashing of fixed-charge motoring offences there have been suspicions of over- zealous behaviour, sometimes bordering on entrapment, by the traffic corps.
In one case, a number of penalty tickets were cancelled after it was claimed gardai in an unmarked car had driven at 20 miles per hour in a traffic lane, causing several impatient motorists to move into a bus lane and overtake on the left.
The frequent setting up of ‘traps’, particularly in slip-roads off motorways and other main roads, is also a cause of concern among local gardai, who have to deal with complaints by irate motorists.
The Garda Traffic Corps unofficially sets targets for the issuing of penalty notices, which have been running at about 400,000 annually. Its high rates of prosecution, though, are causing widespread disillusionment within the force, which relies on public support in tackling crime.
However, traffic corps gardai respond by saying that the high levels of policing have led to a major decline in deaths and injuries on the roads.
The death rate has fallen from 458 in 1998 to just over 160 this year.
Last year, 460,000 people were prosecuted for road traffic offences. This year, the figure will again be close to around 400,000, with 315,000 having been prosecuted up to the end of September.
Anyone that condones this shit (and there are cunts on this forum that do) has absolutely no right whatsoever to bitch about the economic state of the country. The two are inextricably linked.
Do you know when birds cut their jeans into denim hotpants? And you know the way the pockets hang down inside the hotpants. Shouldn’t they just cut the pockets off or stitch them up inside or something? I think it’s wrong.
Yes there is. Like a different drink entirely. Should be drunk at room temperature and therefore you get the flavour of the hops and the malt. Unlike the draught which is chilled to almost freezing and thus has no discernible taste.
I’ve long been of the view that these cunts should be hung for treason. For fuck sake we live in the most benign country in the world, weather wise. We get no freak weather events, nobody gets frozen alive,nobody dies in summer heat waves.
We should be using our weather as a tool for attracting visitors who don’t mind a bit of rain but like a stable reliable climate. Sunny spells and scattered showers that’s what we are.
Then the other night I’m watching the weather forecast and these cunts are advising a lockdown. Stay indoors unless it is absolutely necessary. It is very dangerous out there. Anyway, it was absolutely necessary, so I had to bring the dog for a walk. Imagine my surprise to find that there was a stiff breeze outside. And that was about the size of the weather warning.
I’d say these cunts go to meteorologists conferences and meet weathermen from the Cornhusker states or the Caribbean or India and feel jealous about the fact that they don’t have any deadly phenomena to report and then go home and feel they have to talk up any old gust of wind.
On a related nanny state gone mad point, I note that there is now a series of ads advising people not to walk to the pub. You can’t walk to the pub now and you can’t drive. The publicans must feel like throwing their hats at it.
[quote=“Fagan ODowd, post: 102528”]The Met Office.
I’ve long been of the view that these cunts should be hung for treason. For fuck sake we live in the most benign country in the world, weather wise. We get no freak weather events, nobody gets frozen alive,nobody dies in summer heat waves.
We should be using our weather as a tool for attracting visitors who don’t mind a bit of rain but like a stable reliable climate. Sunny spells and scattered showers that’s what we are.
Then the other night I’m watching the weather forecast and these cunts are advising a lockdown. Stay indoors unless it is absolutely necessary. It is very dangerous out there. Anyway, it was absolutely necessary, so I had to bring the dog for a walk. Imagine my surprise to find that there was a stiff breeze outside. And that was about the size of the weather warning.
I’d say these cunts go to meteorologists conferences and meet weathermen from the Cornhusker states or the Caribbean or India and feel jealous about the fact that they don’t have any deadly phenomena to report and then go home and feel they have to talk up any old gust of wind.
On a related nanny state gone mad point, I note that there is now a series of ads advising people not to walk to the pub. You can’t walk to the pub now and you can’t drive. The publicans must feel like throwing their hats at it.[/quote]
Ah that’s a cracker Fagan. I’m proud to be a neighbour.
On a semi related note- Our news must be the most depressing, long winded and devoid of any goodness of all the news shows around. There are plenty of good and charitable stories happening every day as well as light hearted stories like pigs thinking they are dogs, Bandage winning TFKNFLFF or The Runt getting engaged to a Tipp woman etc. Why not bring a bit of joy into peoples hearts instead of a constant stream of darkness. They need a things that are right section…
I was thinking about this the other day when listening to the news on the wireless. The last piece was about 4 people dying in Russia-why they felt the need to squeeze in this final bit of misery is beyond me. Thousands of people died around the world that day so why report this particular incident? Why not finish off with a good news story of which there must be hundreds at this time of year-I think there are just a lot of people in Ireland who revel in misery and love hearing about this shit.
On a semi related note- Our news must be the most depressing, long winded and devoid of any goodness of all the news shows around. There are plenty of good and charitable stories happening every day as well as light hearted stories like pigs thinking they are dogs, Bandage winning TFKNFLFF or The Runt getting engaged to a Tipp woman etc. Why not bring a bit of joy into peoples hearts instead of a constant stream of darkness. They need a things that are right section…
[/quote]Or a renowned tipster that tipped up a 100/1 shot for the Darts and made his pals a chunk of cash.
I was thinking about this the other day when listening to the news on the wireless. The last piece was about 4 people dying in Russia-why they felt the need to squeeze in this final bit of misery is beyond me. Thousands of people died around the world that day so why report this particular incident? Why not finish off with a good news story of which there must be hundreds at this time of year-I think there are just a lot of people in Ireland who revel in misery and love hearing about this shit.[/quote]
I have one of thośe internet radio yokes. I gave up listening to RTE except for the sport on a Sunday. They are so fucking negative it is unbelievable.
