The Justice Minister is referring the allegations of alleged Garda corruption in the penalty points system to the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission.

In a statement, Alan Shatter says he believes the time is now right to do so in order to put to bed this issue once and for all and allay public concerns.

"Serious allegations have been made against many unnamed members of An Garda Síochána which it seems some members of the Committee wish to promulgate publicly without those against whom allegations have been made being in a position to examine the allegations or defend their reputations" he said.

"The rolling nature of the allegations is such that the Garda Commissioner, prior to his appearance last week before the Committee, was given no reasonable time to conduct a detailed examination of new allegations made".

"The reality is that there are legal and practical constraints on the ability of the PAC to determine the veracity of claims made in relation to individual penalty point cases. This could lead to a situation where the Committee is simply used as a platform for persons to make a series of unsubstantiated assertions on which the Committee would not be able to come to a reliable conclusion and which could be very damaging to individual members of An Garda Síochána and to private citizens".

The Minister goes on to say "I have discussed the present situation with the Garda Commissioner...he has legitimate concerns about the effect on the Force of actions which might be taken by the Public Accounts Committee. Equally, he does not want to find himself in a position of conflict with the Committee".

"In circumstances where the Garda authorities have not been made fully aware of allegations being made and the manner in which allegations are being pursued, it is necessary to identify a method where any public concerns can be addressed, without An Garda Síochána finding itself at the centre of political controversies, or having senior management of the Force continuously distracted from their primary job of protecting the public".

He adds that "It seems to me, particularly in the light of circumstances where allegations are being continuously made and the political controversy which An Garda Síochána finds itself at the centre of, that circumstances have now arisen where it is in the public interest to refer the allegations which are being made and the manner in which those allegations have been pursued, including issues relating to the preservation of the integrity of Garda records, to GSOC".

He concludes that he is making the necessary arrangement to do so.

Newstalk's Political Correspondent Páraic Gallagher is at Leinster House. He says the statement from Minister Shatter does not hold back.