Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan:

It was most certainly not deliberate. It was an oversight because there is a transition arrangement. We have explained this from the outset and even in the preamble to the establishment of the Policing Authority. There is a perception that the Garda Síochána, which is a very data-rich organisation, has systems which at a press of a button can produce and present data. We cannot. In this case, both of my colleagues sitting to my right and left, can explain how this would mean a trawl through volumes, mountains of paper records to try to match them with the PULSE system which the Garda inspectorate quite rightly pointed out is outdated and archaic. We have now secured Government funds to make improvements to it and we are doing the upgrades and improvements.

The Deputy mentioned process. A process must be gone through to ensure we establish the facts without, as the assistant commissioner stated, applying fixes or information that is wrong or distorted. We are trying to do that. I used a metaphor the other day - we are trying to keep the lights on while rewiring the house. It is important that people understand this. We are dealing with an old system of paper records that are mountains high. Some of them are in basements of Garda stations, others are in station attics and others are in desk drawers in stations. They must be taken out and gone through. Yes, it took-----