Senior officers are in England for pursuit training
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) wants people who upload videos of cars driving the wrong way down a motorway to be prosecuted.
The policing body appeared before the Oireachtas Justice Committee on Tuesday, when it was outlined that intoxicated driving offences have increased by 10pc in the last year, while mobile phone use at the wheel has increased by 19pc.
Senior gardaí also told the committee that 40 garda instructors are undergoing various stages of pursuit training with police in England, which will be rolled out at the Garda College from the end of November.
The issue of pursuit training and criminals driving against traffic has come to the fore again following last month’s M9 crash in Co Kildare, in which five teenagers died after driving a car the wrong way on a motorway and crashing into another, in which an innocent family were travelling.
In its submission to the committee, the GRA said a clearer policy on spontaneous pursuits needs to be introduced, including grades of seriousness.
General secretary Ronan Slevin, said there needs to be legislative change to raise the threshold for gardaí, while calling for harsher sentences and bans for those caught deliberately driving in the wrong direction along a road or street.
The GRA has also said it should be made an offence to upload such videos of such behaviour, and that there needs to be greater accountability for social media companies.
Assistant Commissioner Denis Ferry, in charge of roads policing, described recent high-profile collisions involving contra-flow driving on motorways in Ireland and the UK as “deeply concerning”.
He outlined how pursuit training was not the solution to this specific criminal behaviour, and said one aspect should be engaging with social media companies to remove such material.
Mr Ferry added that at least 94pc of gardaí in control centres are trained in pursuit management, while training for operational gardaí will begin by the end of the year.
Mr Ferry said around 80pc of all pursuits are authorised, and the deployment of stinger devices and the Air Support Unit were important in such operations.
He said a draft document had been submitted to the Department of Justice in recent weeks, looking at raising the criminal threshold for gardaí involved in collisions in the course of their duties.
Mr Ferry added that nine gardaí are currently being prosecuted for driving offences while on duty, and that the draft policy acknowledges officers are trained to a higher standard and there should be a higher threshold.
Chief Superintendent Brian Sugrue, who oversees the Garda Training College, said instructors are undergoing various phases of training with police in England.
The first phase will be completed by the end of November, at which point a class of six gardaí could begin pursuit training, with a wider rollout next year.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) says there is an “overarching belief” among its members that they will be “thrown to the wolves” for conducting their duties in the absence of appropriate legal protections.
General secretary Ronan Clogher said other issues included lack of clarity on pursuit driving, no training to deal with such spontaneous incidents, and inadequate garda resources.