Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I intend to be brief because I know we have another item and we also have business in the Chamber and I am conscious of that.

My first questions relate to Garda pay and overtime. The Minister told us last year that one of the reasons a Supplementary Estimate was needed was Garda overtime because numbers were down due to of non-recruitment and that this year things were going to be much better because of all the new recruits. The additional requirement we are now being asked to approve in respect of overtime is half what it was last year but it is still substantial. Does the Minister think we might get to a point next year where there will not be a Supplementary Estimate for overtime?

Last April, he told us that ICT was a central component of Garda modernisation and renewal. We have been told that €342 million, including €217 million in additional funding under the capital programme, is being invested in Garda ICT infrastructure between 2016 and 2021. The 2018 budget for ICT was €40 million. The briefing note informs us that some of the Supplementary Estimate was allocated to ICT under the heading "Admin non-pay" and underspend in the capital budget elsewhere in the Garda Vote has been relocated to ICT. How much extra did it get and what was it spent on?

We know about all the problems with PULSE over the recent period. The special rapporteur for children, Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, devoted a section of the appendix in his section 12 report last he asked to be done was made available to the Garda. Has that been done now? Was any of the additional money reallocated to ICT spent on plugging the massive holes in PULSE, or what was it spent on? Perhaps the Minister could take those few question first, before I move on to other sections.