Mr. Drew Harris:

This is part of our GardaSAFE programme, which is the manner in which we deal with all calls that come into An Garda Síochána. It was to develop consistency but also to manage information and GardaSAFE to make sure we use the most appropriate and closest resources to respond to emergencies. There are call takers and dispatchers. Call takers take the initial detail and dispatchers, who are, by and large, gardaí, then send individuals on. There is a process in which calls are transferred from stations to call centres, if appropriate. It is still possible to talk to your local gardaí. If it is a call for assistance, it will go to the call centre. The full national roll-out only took place in November. We are now going through the process of evaluation. Part of the evaluation is the experience of the public who seek assistance and what else we can do to improve the responsiveness of the service. In effect, we bought a fourth-generation police command control system. It is a very good system but it is not much use to us if public confidence starts to diminish because of the level of responsiveness. There is still work to do.