The €6m system that wrongly f igured 1m drivers are uninsured
ALMOST a million drivers have been wrongly identified as having failed to pay their car insurance, leading to a suspension of an expensive Garda IT system.
Errors in the IT database, part of the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system, have been identified by the force.
The system was acquired by An Garda Síochána for an estimated cost of €6million.
But the database was put out of operation last year after flaws in the system led to more than one million false detections for nonpayment of motor insurance.
Problems with the Garda system emerged in notes of a meeting between gardaí and officials from the departments of Transport and Justice.
The handwritten note, which was recorded by a senior official in the Department of Transport, lays the blame for the errors with motor insurance companies for failing to update the database properly.
The note, obtained by RTÉ, states that there was an ‘issue with insurance companies not notifying of part payment of cover. Database had to be pulled – members not managing data properly. Getting 1.1million hits for no insurance – this is not logical’.
The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show there are around 2.4million licensed vehicles in the State, which means that the number of hits for non-payment of insurance on the Garda IT system was almost half the entire number of cars on Irish roads.
Insurance industry studies generally point to the number of uninsured vehicles being around 6 per cent of the country’s total number, which would mean that around 900,000 of those hits for non-payment were false. The body which represents motor insurers, Insurance Ireland, declined to comment.
An Garda Síochána confirmed that it was aware of the problem. It is unknown how many drivers may have been pulled over by Garda patrols as a result of the incorrect data hits; how long the database has been suspended for, or what the financial cost of the error has been for insurers, gardaí and road users. In a statement, the force said: ‘An Garda Síochána is aware of an issue in relation to certain i nsurance related data on the ANPR system. We are working with all the partner stakeholders to resolve the issue.’
Gardaí say they do not believe these issues had impacted on roads policing enforcement and that 6,700 prosecutions were instigated for no insurance to date this year.
The departments of Justice and Transport both declined to comment as they said it was a Garda operational matter.
ANPR systems have become popular with police forces worldwide in recent years and are generally considered to be sophisticated and valuable road traffic enforcement tools when managed correctly.
They are designed around one piece of in-car hardware and several inter-linked databases.
The hardware device is fitted to a Garda car, and it scans number plates on passing vehicles while the police vehicle is on patrol.
These number plates are crossreferenced against several databases to determine whether the vehicles are suspect, stolen, untaxed or uninsured. There is no indication of concerns with the accuracy of data on the other databases tied to the ANPR system, other than the motor insurance file.
‘Database had to be pulled’