The Minister for Justice has accused the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors of being "out of line" in threatening to not enforce the widening of the penalty points system for drivers.
Decisions in relation to the penalty points were a matter for the Minister and the Garda Commissioner, not the AGSI, Mr McDowell said yesterday.
He was reacting to a warning issued by the AGSI at its annual conference that its members would not co-operate with the extended points scheme until it was fully computerised.
Delays in implementing the system were regrettable, said Mr McDowell, but it was outside the capacity of either himself or the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan to deal with them.
Comments by the general-secretary of the AGSI, Mr George Maybury, in relation to the operation of the system came close to saying that the association was responsible for deciding Garda policy and deciding the allocation of Garda resources, Mr McDowell said.
"The decisions in relation to the deployment of Garda resources or whether points come in or out or whether Seamus Brennan is supported or not is not one for George Maybury or his members or his president to make.
"It's one for the Minister and it's one for the Commissioner," Mr McDowell said in an RTÉ radio interview.
The Minister said he would be making his views on the matter very clear to gardaí over the coming days.
The AGSI declined to comment on the Minister's statement last night.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the National Safety Council, Mr Eddie Shaw, said yesterday the gardaí had been right to make their point.
"To have an efficient system for dealing with the penalty points, you really must have an integrated information technology system," he said.
However, he added that to reduce the level of enforcement would be swapping administration costs for the cost in lives and serious injuries.
