Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly is in discussions with the Government to change the law so gardaí will only face prosecution for driving offences during pursuits in exceptional circumstances.
The type of offence committed by a garda would need to be much worse than a road traffic crime by a member of the public before a prosecution would take place under a new two-tier system.
The proposal emerged after the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said there was “shock” across the force after a Dublin-based officer was convicted of dangerous driving.
The conviction arose from his pursuit of two masked men on scramblers in the city when he was on duty in May, 2024. He was banned from driving for two years and fined €500. An appeal has been lodged.
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Under the new system mooted by Kelly, the current threshold of legal culpability would apply to civilian drivers and off-duty gardaí. But a new, higher threshold would apply to officers on duty, and possibly other emergency services workers.
Kelly said “it does not appear to be to be right that the same threshold would apply” to a Garda member who crashed a patrol car while responding to a serious emergency or during a pursuit and a civilian driver involved in the same type of incident “because of bad driving”.
Asked about the garda’s conviction, Kelly said the case had “crystallised” some of the challenges facing members who were called upon to drive under emergency and stressful conditions. Pursuit training would be provided and policies and procedures around pursuits would be renewed.
Kelly said he could not allow a climate to exist where gardaí “go to work and they don’t feel like they’re protected and don’t feel like they can do the job properly” because they were “worried” they would be prosecuted. He said Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and officials in his department were “supportive” of the proposal for a special threshold in road traffic legislation for gardaí.
Assistant Commissioner Catharina Gunne, in charge of roads policing, is to formulate an official proposal to send to the Department of Justice.
AGSI general secretary Kevin Bolger said that at a time when there was pressure on the Garda to tackle offenders on scramblers, there was no pursuit training for gardaí.
And though he did not want to comment directly on the conviction of the Dublin garda, he believed the outcome of that case would affect the willingness of Garda members to pursue suspects, who would inevitably gain an advantage.
He said scrambler riders “know the likelihood of a [Garda] member coming after them – especially in certain scenarios – has lessened”.
The level and seriousness of offending by a cohort on scrambler bikes – usually without helmets, wearing masks and speeding while weaving in and out of traffic – is “a crisis area and it is going to get worse”.
Following conviction of the officer, gardaí in patrol cars would now be assessing if they should engage in a pursuit. They would likely assess the consequences it may have on their professional and personal lives if a complaint arose about the manner of their driving, he said.
News of the conviction, and the concerns being expressed by the AGSI, emerged on the same day the Government was considering the immediate activation of legislation banning scramblers in all public places. The legislation – which is already enacted, though was never activated – is known as “Grace’s law” and also allows gardaí to seize and destroy the bikes.
