Assistant commissioner downplays links between road deaths and penalty points

Garda Assistant Commissioner Derek Byrne has insisted that road traffic enforcement is consistent throughout the country despite findings which drew a link between infrequent penalty-point issuance and higher fatality rates in certain counties.

Research by The Irish Times found that road users are most at risk in counties such as Monaghan, Kerry and Donegal where there is a lower instance of penalty points being issued. So-called high penalty point counties such as Clare and Waterford registered fewer road deaths per 100,000 people than their low-points counterparts.

Mr Byrne was keen to play down any inference that leniency on behalf of gardaí in certain areas has an impact on death rates.

“Variations between divisions have little impact and little to do with penalty points. We have a national road safety plan and structure in place; it’s not confined to any county, it’s a national road safety plan.”

He said gardaí "work very closely with the Road Safety Authority and the Garda National Traffic Policy Bureau to deal with road traffic issues in a realistic way".