Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has plans to make available to the Garda a geographical information system, crime mapping system, his views on the operation to date of the PULSE system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16350/04]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I am advised by the Garda Síochána that it is examining the costs and benefits of developing spatial information functionality as an extension to the PULSE system. When this has been done, the merits of developing such a system will be considered alongside other information systems priorities. In this regard, my Department has recently given approval to the Garda authorities to carry out an information and communications technology strategy for the period 2004-09. I expect that the development of a spatial information system will be considered with all the other Garda requirements as part of the study.

The operation of the PULSE system has provided the Garda Síochána with unprecedented support in its operational and strategic roles. Travelling around the country from time to time, one hears criticism of the system. However, it is improving substantially. PULSE provides a co-ordinated system, which is far superior to anything that came before it and has replaced a range of older computer and paper-based systems to enable on-line access to information thereby maximising its use throughout the Garda organisation.

The final release of the system has been rolled out to the Garda organisation in recent months and is now complete. On my trips around the country I have noticed training sessions in progress in which members of the force are being brought up to speed with the last release of the system. This release provides new functionality in a number of areas, including warrants, driver licence and insurance production, bail sign-on, electoral register for checking addresses etc., crime notification systems and domestic violence orders.

Over the coming years further systems will be implemented in the Garda Síochána which will be linked to PULSE and will leverage further benefits from the system. This ensures a co-ordinated approach is adopted for future developments and ensures that so-called "islands of information", which presented a problem in the past, are eliminated.

Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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My question was prompted by a concern that the latest systems for detecting and solving crime were not being utilised or made available to the Garda, which is confirmed by the Minister's answer. I assume the Minister is aware that the radio systems in use by the Garda are on the verge of collapse. I am sure he is aware that Michael Kirby, head of the GRA, has said that the system of inservice training is inadequate and in some cases non-existent.

It is curious that we are now only examining the possibilities for a GIS, when in the US many states and cities, such as New York, have been using geographical information systems for up to a decade and such systems are enormously successful in detecting and solving crime by allowing the force to map crimes on an hourly, daily or weekly basis and apply the resources where the need is greatest. Should we not introduce this kind of information technology forthwith rather than commissioning yet another study on it? When does the Minister intend to allow the Garda to move forward with technology and in many cases to make the leap from the 19th to the 21st century? Will the Minister consider allowing the force to proceed with a geographic information system now rather than waiting to permit the commissioning of yet another consultancy report on the issue?

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Garda radio network is the subject of a later question and I do not want to trespass too much on another Member's business. A proposal to roll out a €100 million to €200 million digital radio network for the Garda is under consideration and a pilot project has already been conducted. I am addressing the issue head-on.

Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Does the Minister concede that the current system is on the verge of collapse?

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I do not concede that. It is technologically poor by reference to the capability of a proper digital system. As Minister, I am facing head-on the issue of the introduction of a digital radio communications network for the Garda. The necessary resources will be substantial and it will require considerable effort to ensure that whatever system we chose is the right one and economical. The same arguments apply to geographic information systems and crime. While there are systems available, they must be compatible with PULSE. There is no point in having an island of information. To make a system compatible without compromising the PULSE system, slowing its use or making it more difficult to access and operate, I must undertake an advance study. Any added capacity through a stand-alone or more fully integrated system linked to PULSE must not prove counterproductive.

While it is of assistance to provide information pictorially on a map to show where crimes are occurring, the importance of such a system should not be exaggerated. While it would allow one to see that a rash of murders had happened in a particular area, this could also be accomplished without electronics if it were considered useful. I would not exaggerate the usefulness of a pictorial depiction of the spatial distribution of crime as an aid to policing. If gardaí in Donnybrook station knew there were ten burglaries in Leeson Street, seeing the information depicted on a map would not change the matter dramatically. They would know it anyway.

Any system must be used properly and in a way which provides additional value to the Garda. It should not be an elaborate toy. I believe in a common sense approach. I want to ensure that if we spend large sums of money on a pictorial and geographical system, it is not simply to produce pieces of paper which can be waved around in public but which do not add very much to the efficacy of policing. Different circumstances exist here to those in the United States of America which is a highly mobile society. It is useful, particularly with regard to inter-state crime, for various police forces, of which as the Deputy knows there are a number in the USA, to be able to examine geographical patterns of crime. US police forces exist in information islands and the sharing of spatial information is important to them.

Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Will the Minister consider a pilot project in the Dublin metropolitan area?

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I imagine that as part of the strategy for 2004 to 2009, a pilot programme to evaluate spatial technology will probably be deployed.