Thursday 23 January 2014 14.34 Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has said he will be taking legal advice over the proposed appearances of two garda whistleblowers at the Public Accounts Committee next week.
Speaking at the PAC is not the proper forum for gardaí to make serious or criminal accusations against colleagues.
He said using that platform to discuss such matters would have an adverse effect on discipline within the force.
Commissioner Callinan defended the force's handling of the penalty points controversy and said that nobody has provided any evidence of corruption and malpractice.
He also strongly criticised the fact that two garda whistleblowers are due to give evidence to an Oireachtas committee next week.
The identity of the serving garda whistleblower was revealed at the committee today; Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe is understood to be serving in the midlands.
The identity of the retired garda whistleblower, John Wilson, had been known for some time.
Commissioner Callinan said he should have the opportunity to deal with this situation in advance of these people coming in.
These individuals had limited access to information and may be misguided, he said.
He also said that he had not seen the information that was provided to the committee.
The commissioner said this was not about circling the wagons, but that it was about the fundamental principal of the control and discipline of An Garda Síochána.
He said these issues should be dealt with by him at other forums and that perhaps the Director of Public Prosecutions should be involved.
The commissioner also said it is extraordinary that there are just two individuals making these allegations.
Speaking about whistleblowers, he asked what these individuals are doing in their particular places of work when they have a duty to protect the communities in which they work.
It is obvious, he said, that countless hours must have been spent on the computers searching and printing material.
It is patently wrong, he added, for members to start going into a system looking for difficulties or perceived wrongdoing.
10,000 fixed charge notices terminated annually
In his opening address, the commissioner said that the penalty points system was not a revenue generation measure and that just over 10,000 fixed charge notices are terminated every year.
This equates to two cancellations per week per garda district, which can have up to six stations in it, or 2.6% of the 1.46 million issued, he said.
The commissioner also said that even when a penalty notice is issued, it is not mandatory that a prosecution or a payment should follow.
The use of discretionary powers has served the Garda Síochána well since the foundation of the State, he said.
It is an intrinsic feature of good policing which continues to help maintain the positive garda relationship with the citizens, he added.
Commissioner Callinan also told the committee that the gardaí have introduced a number of measures that have strengthened procedures around the cancellation of penalty point notices, as well as greater oversight and auditing of the system.
He said that two internal audits in November/December of last year have showed 100% of these cancellations were carried out within policy.
The commissioner said that no thread of evidence has been found to date and nobody has provided any evidence of corruption and malpractice.
PAC member Derek Nolan asked if it was corruption if a garda cancelled penalty points for a family member.
The commissioner said he does not expect any member of the gardaí to do favours for their friends.
He said he expects that everybody making those decisions makes them for the right reason and he would expect all of his officers to act fairly.
The PAC is investigating complaints from two garda whistleblowers about what they claim is a practice in the force of routinely cancelling penalty point notices.
In recent days the committee has been presented with fresh material understood to come from Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.
At a private meeting last night, the committee decided to invite one of the whistleblowers to appear either in public or in private session to be questioned about the allegations.
PAC chairperson John McGuinness said he has met with one of the whistleblowers in relation to the penalty points controversy.
Mr McGuinness said he is satisfied as to the whistleblower's bona fides and said he has a story to tell.
He said the man alleges the penalty point issue is a much more widespread problem than has been documented.
Mr McGuinness also said he was concerned about his position as a serving garda and is experiencing serious difficulties in his job.
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