AN GARDA SÍOCHÁNA has thanked whistleblower Maurice McCabe for bringing the penalty points scandal to their attention.

Gsoc today released a damning report on the matter today which found that between 2009 and 2012, there were 1.6 million fixed charge notices (FCNs) and 74,373 cancellations of these notices issued.

There were 442 authorising members in this time – that is, members of the force who were authorised to cancel a fixed charge notice.

It cited one garda based in Dublin, for example, cancelled 744 FCNs across 17 counties. Furthermore, gardaí deployed to different units such as immigration and the drugs unit, whose remit wouldn’t cover traffic offences, were terminated FCNs.

In some cases, the FCNs were cancelled before the motorist would have been sent a letter to inform them they had one.

A statement from An Garda Síochána this evening thanked McCabe for all the work he had done on bringing the matter to light.

The statement read: “As we have previously stated following recent internal and external reviews into the Fixed Charge Processing System, An Garda Síochána recognises that the Fixed Charge Processing System did have systematic flaws and that some members of An Garda Síochána were using it in an inappropriate manner.

“An Garda Síochána would like to thank once again Sergeant Maurice McCabe who brought these matters to the attention of ourselves and other stakeholders. Sergeant McCabe has played a very valuable role in reform of the system.

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“An Garda Síochána welcomes GSOC’s finding that the “procedures for dealing with fixed charge notice cancellations have dramatically changed in recent years”.

The Disclosures Tribunal, at which McCabe is at the centre of, is examining allegations  that there were attempts to smear Maurice McCabe by then-Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan’s legal team at the O’Higgins Commission – an inquiry set up to investigate his claims of malpractice.

With reporting by Sean Murray 

Read: Gsoc to drop probe into fixed charge cancellation scandal because ‘cost outweighs benefit’ >