Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has said she has full confidence in Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan despite renewed pressure on Ms O'Sullivan this week.
The commissioner has been criticised for failing to offer an explanation for why 14,700 people were wrongly summoned and convicted of motoring offences in court after they had already paid fixed-charge notices in relation to their offences. The details of the wrongful convictions were disclosed at a Garda press briefing on Thursday.
‘Appalling’
The Tánaiste said the revelations were “staggering” and “appalling” and led to serious concerns about supervision and accountability in the force.
She said she became aware of the issue in June 2016 but was informed of the scale of the problem only on March 14th last. She had spoken directly to the commissioner to express her very serious concerns and the need for a series of changes in the system.
However, her spokesman insisted her position had not changed in relation to Ms O’Sullivan’s role as commissioner.
Fianna Fáil said the party could not express confidence in the commissioner until she explained how the mistakes had occurred.
The party’s spokesman on justice, Jim O’Callaghan, said there was a need for someone to take responsibility for the error.
“I don’t have confidence in the way the gardaí handled this. The commissioner should take the lead to see that an acceptable explanation is given.”
Ms Fitzgerald and Fianna Fáil have been strong supporters of the commissioner, despite several calls for her to stand down in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding the treatment of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
Ms O’Sullivan has insisted she will not leave her position despite the political pressure.
Resignation calls
Sinn Féin, Labour, Solidarity Ireland and Independents4Change yesterday all restated their call for the commissioner to stand aside.
Independents4Change TD Mick Wallace told The Irish Times the gardaí had failed to police properly for the past year due to Ms O'Sullivan's presence. He said the force had lost confidence in her but the Government was continuing to protect her.
“The commissioner has failed in her duties on a number of occasions and the only person who is keeping her in her position is Frances Fitzgerald.”
The Independent Alliance, which includes Minister for Transport Shane Ross and three Ministers of State, said there needed to be a root-and-branch review of the force.
The Garda has confirmed 146,865 summonses were sent out in error from 2006 onwards and one in 10 of them had resulted in convictions in court.
The information followed confirmation that two million breath tests had been recorded on the Garda’s Pulse computer system when only one million were actually carried out between 2012 and 2016.
The Minister for Justice refused to be drawn on the potential cost of the error, but initial estimates suggest it could run into tens of millions of euro, with the people wrongfully convicted having to be contacted and their cases brought back to court to have their convictions quashed.
Ms Fitzgerald stressed it was hugely important to establish how the situation had occurred.
“I have spoken to the chair of the Policing Authority, Josephine Feehily, and they will be continuing their examination of this issue over the coming weeks so that it will be fully examined and we can have the full facts about how this happened and why it happened.”
