The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, has said he had no idea that speed cameras used by the Garda for more than a year were defective, resulting in the failure to prosecute almost half of all the drivers caught speeding on camera.
He was commenting after this week's publication of the 2003 annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, which highlighted a range of problems in the fines system for speeding and other offences.
Mr McDowell said on RTÉ radio that he first learned of the flaws in the cameras in the report published on Tuesday.
The report said that 47 per cent of drivers caught speeding or not wearing safety belts in the 14 months to December 2003 were not prosecuted because images from the cameras were too poor or number plates were dirty.
Mr McDowell said: "I was very surprised to hear that and I certainly was unaware of the fact that there was such a high attrition rate."
He was not satisfied that defective equipment was in use for so long without his knowledge. Asked why he did not know, Mr McDowell said: "That's a very good question but I'm not the Minister for Transport."
Of the Garda, he said: "If they ask for equipment, they're given equipment."
He said the episode "points out the need very definitely for a better approach to governance in the area of the road traffic issue.".
The chairman of the National Safety Council, Mr Eddie Shaw, said the Government produced legislation which allowed enforcement but did not give any investment.
The C & AG's report showed the consequences of the lack of resources.
Penalty points had worked at first as drivers had the perception that they would be caught and penalised, he said.
"The penalty points system is being enforced to the best of the ability of the gardaí.
"In fairness to them, they have been in a difficult position because they have to enforce the law but the Government did not give the investment for manpower, computers, administration," he said.
Mr Shaw added that errors and difficulties had happened in all countries when such systems were first introduced.
"In the case of Ireland, the failure rates have been exacerbated because the Government did not make any investment in the system to provide resources," he said.
When a private-sector company took over, its business would depend on the quality of output, and the percentage of usable film would improve, he added.
The president of the Garda Representative Association, Mr Dermot O'Donnell, said: "We are talking about a system where we are having to move into new computerised, high-technology areas, when our radio system is so out of date that members are using their own mobile phones in order to communicate."