18 February 2014
Road Traffic (No 2) Bill 2013 passes all stages in the Dail and Seanad.
17th February 2014
PARC Statement on the Garda Siochana Act 2005 and GSOC
PARC road safety group has serious concerns regarding The Garda Siochana Act 2005, particularly those sections relating to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).
In her contribution yesterday on RTE the former Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Nuala O' Loan pinpointed some of these concerns.
She stated the following:
1. The Garda Ombudsman cannot investigate the Garda Commissioner.
2. The GSOC have no powers to get access to all the information held by the Garda.
3. Under the current arrangements there are serving Garda working in the office of the Ombudsman as liaison officers.
She went on to say..."If Ireland wants an effective Ombudsman capable of doing the job that any modern democracy needs then they should have the power to investigate the Chief Officer and they should have complete right of access to information".
The GSOC members ought to be trusted with the most sensitive material, to do otherwise is to undermine the work and status of GSOC.
6 February 2014
PARC members raise concerns on Prime Time tonight - courts and the penalty points system
www.rte.ie/news
6 February 2014
Government agree to scrap the Court poor box system.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter announces that the Court poor box is to be replaced with a statutory reparations fund into which offenders will make payments to provide support to victims of crime.
Link to Irish Times report
27 January 2014
PARC meeting with Minister Varadkar to discuss rise in road deaths and Garda enforcement levels
25 January 2014
Garda Disciplinary Procedures - Strong, Effective and Transparent?
PARC believe that the internal Garda disciplinary procedures are not as effective or transparent as they ought to be....more
22 January 2014
PARC calls for an end to Court Poor Box donations for Road Traffic Offences
More than 1,700 drivers escaped penalty points and a conviction for motoring offences in 2013 by making a donation to the poor box when summoned to court. These figures were released yesterday to Deputy Thomas Broughan after submitting a question to the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter on the issue. PARC wants to see this practise stopped. Drivers found guilty in court of motoring offences should face the full rigour of the law and receive points and a fine. That is the only way penalty points will be successful in stopping people reoffending.
Link to Irish Times article by David Labanyi
15 January 2014
PARC attend Dail for Report and Final stages of Road Traffic Bill 2013.
The Road Traffic Bill 2013 goes to final stages in the Dail today. This Bill contains a number of welcome provisions including several which PARC have successfully campaigned for over the years including.... a provision to test blood taken from an incapacitated driver involved in a crash involving death or injury, as is common practice in Northern Ireland. The introduction of tougher penalties for hit and run drivers involved in an injury related crash. The introduction of penalty points for learner drivers for failure to display L Plates and for those who drive unaccompanied by a qualified driver.
This excellent Bill will focus minds on driver behaviour, particularly younger drivers in their 20s, a category that presents a particular problem that needs to be addressed immediately.
PARC is delighted to have contributed to this Bill and enjoyed attending all it's stages going through the Dail. We look forward to it being passed into law and enacted very shortly.
1 January 2014
PARC's successful campaign for major changes to Garda CT68 form.
As from today Gardai attending the scene of a road crash will record far more information about a crash on an updated Garda CT68 form. For the first time since the form was created in 1959 Gardai will record hit and runs along with much more precise data relating to the collision.
PARC welcomes this very positive move. We, the families of victims have campaigned for many major changes to the outdated form. The new version will give all a far clearer picture of the causes behind road deaths and serious injury collisions in the future.
Link to Irish Examiner article.
Earlier News items
