Garda unwilling to work penalty points system

Garda sergeants and inspectors say they are unwilling to participate in the full roll-out of the penalty points system for drivers until a computerised network is put in place. Such a system would make endorsing licences less cumbersome, they say.

It is believed serious industrial unrest within the force may now be inevitable unless the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, backs down on his intention to introduce the full system before the computerised network is in place.

Some officers anticipate that sergeants and inspectors will refuse to comply with the Minister's request to add more than 60 additional motoring offences to the penalty points system. Mid- ranking gardaí are frustrated at the unwieldy manner in which the system is currently processed.

Delegates at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) annual conference in Galway yesterday complained that the system was too fragmented.

When endorsing a driver's licence it was necessary to process the paperwork through a number of centres around the country rather than through a centralised location.

Gardaí had not been provided with proper books to record details of endorsement cases, thus requiring them to mark out booklets using a pen and ruler. And there was confusion about how points mistakenly endorsed to the wrong licence could be removed. The AGSI wants a computerised system in place before the additional offences are added. Currently, speeding is the only offence for which drivers can incur points. It is envisaged that the new computerised system under development will take at least a year to complete.

Mr Brennan has repeatedly insisted he wants the new offences added in the short term in a bid to further improve road safety. Last year, the number of fatalities on Irish roads fell by 34 to 377 following the introduction of penalty points. To date in 2003, there have been 86 deaths on the roads compared with 119 during the same period last year.

It emerged at the conference that delegates' attitudes had hardened to what many officers see as the Minister's rushed approach to the full roll-out of the penalty points system. In a significant development they passed a motion calling on the Government to withhold introducing the new offences until a computerised system is in place. Thus it is now official AGSI policy that the new offences should not be introduced without the new computerised system.

Officials from the AGSI will meet Mr Brennan and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, to outline their members' concerns.

AGSI officials would not be drawn on what might happen if Mr Brennan still insists on introducing the new offences immediately. But some officers believe sergeants and inspectors will refuse to comply with such a request.

Such a development would be a serious blow to the Minister for whom the penalty points system has been a major aim since the formation of the Government.

Meanwhile, AGSI conference delegates also passed a motion calling for sniffer dogs to be provided to every Garda division. At present, there are only five such dogs and a limited number of handlers. Delegates also called for a speedy evaluation of bullet-proof and stab-proof vests with a view to having them introduced as quickly as possible.

The conference also heard calls for the introduction of a minimum mandatory prison sentence of six months for those convicted of drugs offences. Insp Jim Phelan of the Laois/Offaly branch told delegates he had conducted a survey which revealed prison sentences were only the fifth most popular option chosen by judges in drugs trials after adjournments, suspended sentences, fines and the Probation Act.