Mr. Richard Browne:

The way it works is that when somebody calls ECAS the carrier signal on the GSM, the system the person is using, sends an encoded message - it is encrypted - to the ECAS as part of the call, and that encrypted message includes the GPS co-ordinates in a file hash. When the ECAS gets that file hash it can decrypt what is in that and then it sends that to the relevant emergency service. The ECAS system, under the operator's template, has the GPS co-ordinates and the Eircode, if applicable, and that is then passed to whoever. In some cases people have the facility to utilise that and to give it to the handset in the ambulance as it happens. The Garda and the fire service are slightly further behind but that will happen in respect of those also. The contract for the ECAS takes due diligence from both data protection and the security of the individual's data as handed to them. The ECAS is subject to the GDPR, as are we, so the data protection issues are fully comprehended in the contract also.