Mr. Martin Callinan:

I fundamentally disagree with my colleague. Quite a considerable number of mobile telephones, at a not inconsiderable cost, are issued to An Garda Síochána members who require them or to people whom management has indicated to us require them. After that, there is a secure Tetra radio system. For many years we have been complaining that we did not have such system, but we now have that. Within that regime there is a back-to-back facility. There are all sorts of ways of one colleague communicating with another without having to worry about whether one is interrupting a minor or major operation. I therefore fundamentally disagree with my colleague on that issue. People may very well be using their own private mobile telephones, but if they are, it is by their own choice. As an organisation, we provide the appropriate equipment to members on the ground to have secure communication with one another. As I have said, we are spending €40 million every year to ensure that type of secure radio is in existence.