A District Court Judge has labelled the GoSafe speed camera company "tawdry" and its officials a "complete waste of public money" after four GoSafe-related prosecutions failed.
The comments were made by Judge Patrick Durcan at Kilrush District Court as he dismissed two of the cases and struck out the other two. "I am reaching the point where I believe I should refuse to entertain these matters because of the time wasted in court," he said. "This country can't afford it."
The GoSafe-connected prosecutions appear in court under Inspector John McDonald, who is responsible for the fixed-charge processing unit in Thurles. Judge Durcan has previously clashed with Inspector McDonald saying: "The sooner Insp McDonald sits down, goes back to school and learns a little bit more about how cases are prepared for court, the better."
Addressing Superintendent Seamus Nolan of Kilrush Garda Station Judge Durcan said: "You have been put into an unenviable position of trying to prosecute cases where matters have been so badly and so appallingly put together by Insp McDonald and his team. The sooner this is highlighted the better - the complete waste of public money by these people who come into court who don't know or don't happen to be told how to prosecute simple road traffic matters."
"For the most part the Gardaí come in and do their job perfectly in relation to those matters and you have this quango, this private company, retained to prosecute these matters and one after one after one, their prosecutions seem to fall for one bad reason after another. It is most disappointing."
This is the second time in recent weeks Judge Durcan has criticised GoSafe having previously been left irate after a GoSafe official refused to tell him the extent a driver has to exceed speed limits before they will begin a prosecution.
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The Kilrush District Court Judge's comment come soon after it was revealed that GoSafe's operator (Road Safety Operations Ireland Ltd) moved to shield its profits from public scrutiny by going unlimited, removing the requirement to file annual accounts. The company also changed its ownership structure meaning it is ultimately controlled by a holding company in the Isle of Man.
The changes were made weeks after 2013 accounts showed the company made an average of €48,000 profit per week on its €80 million contract.