The Taoiseach should be aware that approximately six weeks ago St. Michael's House, a vital service for those with intellectual disabilities, was faced with the body blow of a further €1 million of cuts on top of the €12 million that it has already endured. This organisation, which has 330 persons on its waiting list, now must grapple with serious cuts with which, the Minister told us last week, it is dealing creatively and co-operatively - whatever that means.

Coincidentally, that €1 million, which has caused such heartbreak, is slightly less than the €1.12 million that the Comptroller and Auditor General identified the State has lost through not having a proper system of fixed charge notices in relation to company cars. This was merely one of a number of measures, which he identified and which he called "significant weaknesses" in the operation of the fixed charge notice system, which resulted in a substantial proportion of drivers avoiding penalties, a situation which he stated needs to be addressed "urgently". Of course, the problem here is that it is not the first time the Comptroller and Auditor General said this. He said it in 2000, 2003 and 2004, and now he is saying it again. The question really is why should we believe that anything different will happen now when it did not happen previously. Against the backdrop of austerity, revenue foregone is important. Based on the Comptroller and Auditor General's figures, if the motorists had paid, even at the minimum amount, it would have resulted in an extra €3.5 million which could have been used by St. Michael's House or others.

However, the issue here is much greater than revenue foregone. The Comptroller and Auditor General's report confirmed that there are widespread terminations of penalty points which, he stated, were in circumstances that do not satisfy the stated policy. He confirmed the incidence of multiple terminations to the same person and the same vehicle. He confirmed that there was no paperwork. He confirmed that substantial amounts happened outside Garda districts. To all of the problems identified by him, the response was that they have a new circular in place. Let us be clear.

The only reason for the new practices in place now is that two courageous whistleblowing gardaí came forward and gave their evidence which led to internal and external Garda reports and led to the Comptroller and Auditor General investigating the matter. Throughout that time, the Garda establishment sought to minimise the situation and to cover up. The Commissioner said there was no such culture; the Assistant Garda Commissioner, who had five months, five chief superintendents, six superintendents, all their staff and seven others, failed to find the 3,000 summonses that were statute-barred which the Comptroller and Auditor General found. He did not discover that half the summonses issued were never served. Last week, the Minister attempted to downgrade the whistleblower. Does the Taoiseach accept that the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2010 prohibits the penalisation of whistleblowers? Is he aware that one of the whistleblowers has been driven out of his job and the other has been prevented from accessing PULSE and doing his job? What will the Taoiseach do about it, considering that they have been vindicated by the Comptroller and Auditor General?

I am not aware of that. The media have been reporting that St. Michael's House has been forced to introduce cuts in the disability services arising from recent cuts introduced by the HSE. It should be noted that St. Michael's House provides a first-class service to families which includes individualised services, clinical therapies, early intervention services, special national schools, inclusive education, vocational training, adult education, adult day services, employment support, residential independent living, respite care, social recreation and very specialised Alzheimer services. St. Michael's House received over €70 million in 2012. The HSE has advised that the allocation to St. Michael's House for 2013 is €68.5 million, which is a reduction. This allocation is subject to review following the application of the Haddington Road Agreement, HRA and other once-off costings. It should be noted that the figure may not reflect the actual final outcome.

The HSE has advised the Department of Health that the application of additional measures under the HRA has presented a significant challenge to St. Michael's House. Discussions are under way between the HSE and St. Michael's House to identify the impact on services of those budgetary reductions. The Department has received assurances from the HSE that both organisations are committed to working together within the terms of the HRA.

The Deputy referred to the collection of fixed charge notices. The allegations by a member of the Garda Síochána of improper cancellation of fixed charge notices led to this examination by the independent Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and to a separate examination earlier this year by the Garda Síochána. Two Garda reports resulted from the examination. A report by Assistant Garda Commissioner John O'Mahoney, on the allegations recommended some changes and a second report by the Garda professional standards unit made further recommendations for improvements to the fixed charge processing system. The Minister for Justice and Equality published the two reports and referred them to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality.

The O'Mahoney report covered a longer period of three and a half years than the period covered by the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General which was two years. It also examined approximately 1,500 cancellations arising from the allegations, together with nearly 700 cancellations selected at random. The examination by the Comptroller and Auditor General analysed the Garda fixed charge database and looked specifically at a random selection of approximately 350 cancellations. The O'Mahoney report identified approximately the same rate of cancellation of fixed charge notices at 4.55% compared to 5% identified in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The O'Mahony report also identified broadly the same key issues of concern relating to the operation of the fixed charge processing system. This pointed out the need for change. Disciplinary proceedings were taken against a number of members of the Garda Síochána and a number of others were advised of the absolute necessity to follow correct procedures. Arising from the two Garda reports, a new Garda directive on the cancellation of fixed charge notices was issued to the entire force on 31 August 2013. This is aimed at significantly tightening up procedures for cancellation. The report by the Comptroller and Auditor General made specific and helpful recommendations on improving the fixed charge notice system and how this interacts with the Courts Service and the driver licensing system. The report notes that these recommendations have already been accepted by the Garda Commissioner and will be fully implemented.

St. Michael's House does not need to be patronised by the Taoiseach; it needs €1 million which was cut from its budget recently and it needs a restoration of some of the €12 million which was cut previously, in order to allow it to provide accommodation for the 330 people who are on its urgent priority list.

The Taoiseach absolutely failed to address the question he was asked. This is not surprising because it has been the modus operandi of his Minister for Justice and Equality in this regard and, indeed, the Garda Commissioner. They have sought consistently to adopt a defensive approach and to cover up what has gone on behind the scenes. The Minister has repeatedly sought to rely on new protocols and agreements which have been put in place. Most of these measures are not new at all; they are simply a reiteration of the protocols already in place. The fact it has been necessary to re-issue them is an acknowledgement that they were not being implemented in the first place. In reality, serious abuses have been uncovered but the Taoiseach's Government has failed to acknowledge the severity of it. In fact, I do not think the media has done the issue great service either but maybe that is because Stephen Rae and others in the Sunday Independent get their own penalty points written off and so on.