Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

In regard to the Deputy's question on e-mail capabilities, Internet facilities are available at 347 network locations within the Garda Síochána. Moreover, internal e-mail facilities are provided to all ranks of the force via the PULSE environment. As I said, there has been a dramatic increase in the degree of usage of information and communications technologies by gardaí, with investment running at €70 million per year and more than €80 million expected to be invested in 2010. Last year, as part of this investment, €23 million was expended on the national digital radio system and €1.1 million on the automated fingerprinting system.

I do not agree with Deputy Rabbitte that the report in question points to the Garda as a force embedded in the 1950s. That is not so. The Government and the Oireachtas must be given credit for putting in place, in 2005, the infrastructure to ensure the Garda could be benchmarked against best international practice. That is what this report is about. There will always be improvements to implement and scope for the allocation of additional resources. When I became Minister in this Department just under two years ago, I made it one of my primary objectives that priority be given to investment in the Garda, in prisons and in the criminal justice system, regardless of what else was happening with the Department's budget. I stand on my record in that regard. The Estimates for this year and last indicate an investment in the Garda Síochána of €1.6 billion, which is a record.

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