Are the garda above the law??

ciara 2

i need some help in finding out if a garda has the right to ring a persons employer to complain about their attitude towards them on a matter that was not related to work or occured during working hours?? i thought that the garda could not discuss an indivdual with anyone never mind ring the persons boss??? please help!!!:(

PCPhoto

they dont have the right to do that. (best of my knowledge)

contact the garda ombudsman to get a qualified answer and to make a complaint if a garda has threatened or has done this to you.

ciara 2

thank you for this i was unsure but i didn't think the garda could do this thank you for your help

drunkmonkey

If they thought your boss was in danger or open to fraud etc I'd really hope they'd ring, it would be negligent of them not to...

ciara 2

no my car was takin off me as my tax was out of date the garda simply didn't like my attitude and decided to ring my company and slander me to my boss??

PCPhoto

contact the ombudsman, and a solicitor. if/when the case comes to the courts ....contact me !

I_am_Jebus

Is it a company car?

I am finding it hard to see a link to the company you work for - there must be one, otherwise I can't see how the Garda would know where you work and the rationale for ringing them.

Where you undertaking a job for your company when you were stopped?

drunkmonkey

staying quite till I hear more, company car adds a twist..

I_am_Jebus

I am not saying it did/didn't happen until I hear more. But I can't for the life of me see why a Garda would be bothered ringing an individual's employer for absolutely no reason on the basis that their car tax was out of date. (their's being the individual's)

The two issues just don't go hand in hand - unless the individual's company is somehow linked to the car or the individual said something to the Garda that inferred that the company had some interest in either the car, the tax situation or that hte individual was acting (driving) on behalf of the company.

ciara 2

not a company car i am admis staff i dont have a company car its my own car paid for by me the car is in my name!!

i was not undertaking work for the company at the time i do not leave my office when i am working!!!

the garde asked me were i worked when he stopped me and as any normal person would do i answered his question??

I_am_Jebus

Mmmm I find this whole thing very dubious to be honest.
Makes no sense to me that a Garda would waste their time getting contact details for your employer and telephoning them to have a rant about you for no reason. Sure they may as well just rang your parents as do that.

Totally Weird.

If it is as black and white as you are making it out to be, I hope you got the Garda's identification number (shoulder)

Incidentally, how long was your tax out of date?

ciara 2

my tax was out by 8 days my own fault completely and i'm not giving out about that at all i was totally wrong on that one but i have paid the fine and had my car taxed since!!!

I cant understand this either the only thing i can think is that the Member new my boss personaly???

He didn't ring to rant about my out of date tax disc he rang to rant about my attitude he called me cheeky to my boss i feel as if i'm back in school here!!!

censuspro

Interesting. I dont see what your employer has got to do with the situation.

If you make complaint to the Ombudsman it has to be followed through, you could also make a complaint through the guards chain of command.

If he took the car off you, there should be a record of the guard who seized his car.

Seniorpeazel

This sounds very odd to me.
First of all the Gards have no right to contact your employer unless the incident directly involved your employer.

As previously advised i would contact the Garda Ombudsman and a Lawyer as that phone call could have a negative impact on your career...

ciara 2

i am going to make a complaint i just wanted to find out first if the gardai are allowed to do this to people thank you all for the advice

I_am_Jebus

ciara 2 wrote: »

my tax was out by 8 days my own fault completely and i'm not giving out about that at all i was totally wrong on that one but i have paid the fine and had my car taxed since!!!

I cant understand this either the only thing i can think is that the Member new my boss personaly???

He didn't ring to rant about my out of date tax disc he rang to rant about my attitude he called me cheeky to my boss i feel as if i'm back in school here!!!

Not saying they don't or can't but I don't think Gardai normally seize cars for being 8 days overdue for tax. The whole ting sounds weird to me. Musta been some attitude on ya for such a harsh reaction

As a starting point, why not get in contact with the local super.

lgoring21

let us know how u get on it will be interestin 2 know what they say about it...

Croc

ciara 2 wrote: »

my tax was out by 8 days my own fault completely and i'm not giving out about that at all i was totally wrong on that one but i have paid the fine and had my car taxed since!!!

I cant understand this either the only thing i can think is that the Member new my boss personaly???

He didn't ring to rant about my out of date tax disc he rang to rant about my attitude he called me cheeky to my boss i feel as if i'm back in school here!!!

I agree with I_am_Jebus

There has to be more to this, as a Garda cannot take a car off you because the tax is out 8 days has to out 2 months before he can seize it under Section 41 RTA

Victor

Are you certain it was a garda?

jhegarty

When did this happen ?

TheNog

ciara 2 wrote: »

no my car was takin off me as my tax was out of date the garda simply didn't like my attitude and decided to ring my company and slander me to my boss??

ciara 2 wrote: »

not a company car i am admis staff i dont have a company car its my own car paid for by me the car is in my name!!

i was not undertaking work for the company at the time i do not leave my office when i am working!!!

the garde asked me were i worked when he stopped me and as any normal person would do i answered his question??

ciara 2 wrote: »

my tax was out by 8 days my own fault completely and i'm not giving out about that at all i was totally wrong on that one but i have paid the fine and had my car taxed since!!!

I cant understand this either the only thing i can think is that the Member new my boss personaly???

He didn't ring to rant about my out of date tax disc he rang to rant about my attitude he called me cheeky to my boss i feel as if i'm back in school here!!!

I think this is wind up tbh. There is no way a Garda would be so stupid as to illegally seize a car for being 8 days out of tax and then to ring an employer to give about your attitude.

brayblue24

TheNog wrote: »

I think this is wind up tbh. There is no way a Garda would be so stupid as to illegally seize a car for being 8 days out of tax and then to ring an employer to give about your attitude.

I agree. This is nonsense, it simply wouldn't happen. It's two months before your car can be seized for having no tax. In truth, having no motor tax is hardly a federal crime.

GerardKeating

ciara 2 wrote: »

my tax was out by 8 days my own fault

8 Days is not out of day, i just got my renewal in the post, tax expired at the end of June, but the form allows me to renew online up to the end of July.

Unless you mean 8 days and a month out of date.

bokspring71

ciara 2 wrote: »

my tax was out by 8 days my own fault completely and i'm not giving out about that at all i was totally wrong on that one but i have paid the fine and had my car taxed since!!!

I cant understand this either the only thing i can think is that the Member new my boss personaly???

He didn't ring to rant about my out of date tax disc he rang to rant about my attitude he called me cheeky to my boss i feel as if i'm back in school here!!!

I've never heard of someone whose tax was 8 days out of date having their car seized by the gardaí. It sounds pretty dubious.

(i) How do you know he rang your boss and
(ii) how do you know the content of the conversation.

You'll not be surprised that your story doesn't have the ring of truth about it, firstly having your car seized for an 8 day out of date tax disc, secondly for the Garda contacting your employer following seizing your car for an 8 day out of date tax disc, and thirdly why your employer should report to you that the Garda contacted him folowing seizing your car, and fourthly for your employer repeating the conversation between him and the garda, to you.

Your story definitely does not have the ring of truth about it.

slimjimmc

GerardKeating wrote: »

8 Days is not out of day, i just got my renewal in the post, tax expired at the end of June, but the form allows me to renew online up to the end of July.

Unless you mean 8 days and a month out of date.

(Someone with factual knowledge please correct me if I'm wrong here)
8 days is out of date. 1 day is out of date. If your car is in a public place it must display a valid tax disc, so technically if you're even 1 day out of date you can be fined. It doesn't matter if you received your renewal notice late, the onus is on you to keep your tax up to date regardless.

You're just allowed 1 month to pay without incurring arrears.

Our man in Havana

And? So what? It still cannot be seized until the tax has expired by 2 months.

mickos

I find it hard to believe that a garda would even issue a fine for car tax being out 8 days and they would have no rite to impound your car unless possibly it wasn't roadworthy or something like that.
As for speaking to your boss he'd if it was a friend it was probably just off the record, which probably shouldn't of happened but if there's any truth in this you must of really pissed him off.
Moral of the story anyway is if your stopped by the gardai for any reason be as nice as possible to them. Giving them agro will certainly get you no where.

Our man in Havana

Are we sure these were genuine Gardaí and not thieves that have simply stolen a car here?

None of the story adds up.

slimjimmc

Bond-007 wrote: »

And? So what? It still cannot be seized until the tax has expired by 2 months.

Nothing to do with seizing a car, just responding to a misconception of a notional grace period whereby tax is valid for 1 month past its expiry.

I notice the OP still hasn't fully described the cirumstances of how her car was seized and didn't answer if the garda was actually a garda. No details on how the car was seized... driven away or put on a tow-truck, or what documentation issued, etc, etc.

danash

ciara 2 wrote: »

my tax was out by 8 days my own fault completely and i'm not giving out about that at all i was totally wrong on that one but i have paid the fine and had my car taxed since!!!

I cant understand this either the only thing i can think is that the Member new my boss personaly???

He didn't ring to rant about my out of date tax disc he rang to rant about my attitude he called me cheeky to my boss i feel as if i'm back in school here!!!

I'm confused that you know little about the Garda's powers yet refer to him as a 'member' - isn't that an in-house term ?!

Reloc8

Am i missing something - I didn't understand that the car was seized.

I_am_Jebus wrote: »

Not saying they don't or can't but I don't think Gardai normally seize cars for being 8 days overdue for tax. The whole ting sounds weird to me. Musta been some attitude on ya for such a harsh reaction

As a starting point, why not get in contact with the local super.

Correct - three months out of date and they can seize the car.

In a general sense the only basis for a garda to ring your employer about this would be if the employer was the registered owner of the vehicle. That's presuming we have been told everything relevant.

What makes me think there was a basis (i.e. it was permissible) for him doing so is how would he even know who your employer was anyway, unless they were the registered owner of the vehicle (I am presuming you didn't have a chat with him about who you work for) ?