The Acting Garda Commissioner has welcomed the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the penalty point controversy and said the report will help to improve the force.
The PAC Chairman John McGuinness said today the abuse of the penalty point system was as bad now as it had been when the controversy first emerged.
Commissioner O’Sullivan said: “An Garda Síochána welcomes the report of the Public Accounts Committee as it will assist us in the on-going work to further improve the penalty points system.
“On receiving the report, An Garda Síochána will immediately review the recommendations and examine how best they can be implemented as part of the on-going changes to the penalty points system.
“These changes are currently being examined by the Criminal Justice Working Group, which is co-chaired by the Departments of Justice and Transport. The Criminal Justice Working Group is looking at how medium and long term recommendations of the Garda Inspectorate on changes to the penalty points system can be implemented across the justice system.
McGuinness said today at the PAC hearing that Sergeant Maurice McCabe remained ‘isolated’ within the force and continued to pay for his act in disclosing the penalty point corruption.
“What he has done in the interest of the gardai and the state is not fully appreciated and he is still isolated, he is still looked upon by the senior members of the force as someone who stood out form the force and perhaps should not have done what he did,” McGuinness said.
