Road safety campaigners and other groups have expressed concern about the “heartbreaking” findings revealed in a report into Garda roads policing publishing on Thursday.
The Crowe report, an independent review of the Garda Roads Policing Unit set up to assess the unit’s effectiveness and integrity, found some gardaí were “unproductive” and unconcerned with the quality of their performance.
Susan Gray of the road safety campaign group Parc said the Garda whistleblower whose information led to the commissioning of the review “must be praised”.
She added it was “heartbreaking reading for bereaved families like us who have suffered the loss of a loved one in a road-traffic collision”.
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“Much blame has to also be laid at the feet of the superintendents, chief superintendents and assistant commissioner in charge of roads policing who apparently were unaware of this,” Ms Gray said.
Leo Lieghio, vice president of the Irish Road Victims Association, said there would be disappointment “in that small number of gardai that don’t think people lives are worth doing their jobs for; they think it’s not important enough.”
He told RTÉ radio’s News at One: “They need to realise that every single life lost on the roads is big and that’s what we’ve always been saying.”
“The enforcement has to be out there and at the moment there isn’t the enforcement.”
The Policing and Community Safety Authority said it was “deeply concerned” by the report, which it has already discussed with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.
The authority said while the report focused on roads policing, its “wider concern” related to “the absence of any effective performance management within An Garda Síochána”.
“For an organisation of approximately 18,000 to have no means of effectively managing poor performance is shocking and needs immediate action,” it said.
Chairwoman Elaine Byrne said the vast majority of gardaí perform their duties to a very high standard. “However, as this report shows, some have a blatant disregard for the job and its functions.
“We are seriously concerned that there seemed to be a fear from some managers of managing performance.”
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary described the results of the Crowe report as “very serious”, but he added it was important to emphasise it was a “minority” of gardaí involved.
[ Garda roads policing numbers hit historic low of 618Opens in new window ]
Mr Calleary said new regulations introduced in April “will strengthen the whole area of discipline”.
In a statement, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) accused Commissioner Harris and Ms Byrne of showing “utter contempt and disregard” for the integrity of all members of the Roads Policing Unit. It said they did this “by making comments that questioned the professionalism of the entire unit when drip leaking certain lines before the Crowe report was published, which gave an unfair slant to the entire findings”.
The GRA said the report “simply reflects” concerns the GRA has been raising for years including fewer gardaí in the unit, a lack of training, resources and equipment, as well as mismanagement.
Sinn Féin spokesman on Justice, Matt Carthy, said that the findings of the Crowe report on roads policing were “deeply concerning.”
He proposed that the Oireachtas Justice Committee urgently discuss the report with the incoming Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
