The Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority has raised concerns about the investigation being carried out into the recording of fake breath tests by gardaí.
Moyah Murdoch said she was concerned that one documented case of a garda allegedly using a breathalyser on himself in order to produce false results, was symptomatic of a more widespread practice, and the case should form part of the investigation by senior gardaí into the fake tests.
In April, Ms Murdoch wrote to Assistant Commissioner Michael O'Sullivan, who is investigating false breath tests, to inform him that a whistleblower had come to her claiming to have seen a garda performing breathalyser tests on himself in order to falsify test figures.
She said the whistleblower claimed the garda told her "they all did it".
Assistant Commissioner O'Sullivan thanked Ms Murdoch for bringing the matter to his attention and said he "had taken note of the actions of the garda in terms of our overall examination in so far as it comes within our terms of reference".
He said the matter was being dealt with by the Human Resources Directorate and local garda management.
He pointed out that his investigation was into the "policy and procedure" for recording breath tests, and it was "not an investigation in the sense that any one individual is being investigated, but that could be a consequence of my final report".
In a subsequent letter, Ms Murdoch wrote back to Assistant Commissioner O'Sullivan to say that she remained concerned that the matter was being dealt with by garda human resources and local management rather than by the team investigating false breath tests.
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She said the practice of a garda giving himself a breath test in order to produce false results is likely to be symptomatic of the overall governance of mandatory alcohol checks, and not confined to one garda station.
She said the matter should form part of the investigation being carried out by the Assistant Commissioner.
In a statement the Road Safety Authority said it met the team investigating discrepancies over breathalyser tests to raise concerns about how some practices could have contributed to the scale of the discrepancies.
"Unquestionably, there is a direct link between the levels of drink driving enforcement conducted and compliance with drink driving laws," it said.
It added: "The absence of credible and reliable enforcement metrics such as the numbers of drivers being breath tested, makes it almost impossible to evaluate and measure the effectiveness of road safety interventions.
"This is especially valid in the context of the rise in road deaths over recent years."
The authority said it looks forward to the publication of the garda findings and recommendations following the review of the matter in near future.
When contacted the garda press office made no response.
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Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, Fianna Fáil's justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan said he shared the concerns of the Road Safety Authority.
He said it was unsatisfactory that there is still no explanation for the false breath tests, five months after an internal garda investigation was set up.
"Five months later no explanation has been forthcoming from the gardaí about how and why there were so many breath tests," he said.
He added that one potential explanation may have been outlined in the correspondence from the RSA and Assistant Commissioner O'Sullivan.
"If you look at what is at the heart of the allegation in the Road Safety Authority correspondence it suggests that a garda was self-breathalysing.
"That should be looked into, not for the purpose of trying to hold that garda to account, but to identify whether the allegation is correct, and if it is correct, is it representative or symptomatic of what is happening throughout the country.
"I share the concern of the RSA that this is not being looked into."
He said it was important that the report being produced by gardaí would identify the cause of the false breath tests.
"If it comes back in the report that senior gardaí cannot identify any one reason, then it's going to highlight the failure of gardaí to look at allegations such as are contained in the Road Safety Authority correspondence," he said.
"My assessment of it is that the Road Safety Authority shares the same view as I have - that this is a useful piece of information because it may be indicative of what is the cause of these inflated figures throughout the country.
"One of the allegations made in the correspondence was that the garda who was allegedly self-breathalysing was saying that they all did it. That has to be looked at."
