Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief enough. I have two questions on this Vote. I refer to Garda pay and numbers in a general sense. It has been indicated that the 2021 target is 15,000 sworn members of the Garda. It is not terribly far off that or it will not be at the end of this year by my understanding. Having said that, from my conversations with gardaí in Cork and I am sure it is the case elsewhere, what seems to be happening is that with the very welcome establishment of specialist units, an awful lot of experienced gardaí are being drawn away from core units and into specialist units, with the effect that a lot of the core units are still where they were in 2009 or 2010, even at this stage, with the additional recruits. There are still more or less the same numbers in core units. I ask the Minister in that context if he believes that the 2021 target for sworn members of the Garda should be revised to try to ensure that the core units that are serving communities, that are visible in communities, are at an adequate level. An awful lot of the spare capacity is indirectly going into the specialist units. I do not necessarily have a problem with that. A lot of those are very valuable, particularly the protective unit, but it does mean that sergeants are struggling, even at this stage, to make sure that the gardaí are visible in their communities. It is not just rural areas, there are areas of big population where there could be just two cars between two stations and they are stretched between areas of big population.

The other question I have is on the administration subhead 5, office equipment and external IT services. There was a reduction of 3%. I am not sure if that is the exact subhead that is relevant. I ask the Minister in a general sense whether it relates to that head or not. The national development plan makes reference to ICT being a central component of Garda modernisation and renewal. We have heard for years and years about the inadequacy of PULSE. It has manifested itself across a wide range of areas in terms of poor data or data being inputted incorrectly and the implications that has. That was broader than PULSE but PULSE is a factor here and it is vitally important that it is completely overhauled and replaced. I want to know what commitment has been made to the IT upgrade in An Garda Síochána for 2018, or whether that is reflected in that subhead and if that is a 3% reduction in the relevant subhead.