Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I am very pleased the Ceann Comhairle consented to my application to have this matter discussed. I would like to send a message to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform that the Garda is trapped in a technological stone age with the failure to introduce a national digital radio scheme, which has been promised for more than ten years, and now serious shortcomings with the PULSE computer system placing gardaí in the fight against crime in a position of great disadvantage. Gardaí are fighting crime with one hand tied behind their backs. Official Government figures show that the PULSE database system is available in fewer than half the Garda stations. There are 703 Garda stations in the State of which only 319 have access to the PULSE computer system. This is after 15 years and €61.3 million of taxpayers' money spent on a project that is less than satisfactory.

The PULSE system is not available in the Garda College in Templemore resulting in trainee gardaí not gaining the appropriate level of expertise in the system. This matter is a joke. After the amount of money that has been poured into PULSE it is much less than satisfactory that it is not available in the Garda College or in the majority of Garda stations. The cumbersome nature of the system prevents gardaí from accessing real-time information, which in effect is an advantage for criminals as well as being a major handicap for members of the Garda Síochána.

We are told that PULSE suffers from "unplanned downtime". We have heard many euphemisms in recent times for various faults in the system. However, "unplanned downtime" as a euphemism for a cock-up is a new one. This situation is entirely unsatisfactory. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform claims that there has been "virtually no unplanned downtime". What exactly does this mean? How much unplanned downtime has occurred since 2007? Chief Inspector Kathleen O'Toole recently told an Oireachtas committee that despite the vast amount of money spent upgrading the system, it is still not user-friendly and is holding the Garda back in its efforts to prevent crime.

It is not just the PULSE that is causing the Garda problems. After 11 years of promises, gardaí and their colleagues in the emergency services are still denied access to a digital radio system. Instead they are stuck with the old analogue system, which is totally outdated and unreliable, and can easily be intercepted by criminals and their associates. The criminals that gardaí are confronting on a daily basis are armed with far better technological advances than our police force.

In times of the credit crunch we are faced with what can be described as a new form of crime, credit crunch crime. We in the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in particular should ensure that appropriate resources are made available to allow gardaí engage in front-line activity. If the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is serious about preventing crime he needs to bring Garda technology out of the stone age and into the 21st century. This means adopting international best practice and delivering on promises that have been parked for many years.

Only two weeks ago a Circuit Court judge was forced to apologise after it emerged that a suspended sentence had not been properly logged on the Garda computer system, which could have resulted in a major embarrassment in our criminal justice system. How much has PULSE cost to date? The figure I have suggests €61.3 million. However, this does not include in excess of €10 million spent on improving and maintaining the system between 2001 and 2006. If the system is flawed, why does it require such massive expenditure to deal with the ordinary day-to-day maintenance of the system?

As the Minister continues to deny the emergency service access to digital radio and a properly functioning PULSE database system, we are in effect playing straight into the hands of criminals and I would like to see a programme of action once and for all on this important issue.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for affording me an opportunity to update the House on the use of modern technology by the Garda Síochána, in particular the PULSE system. I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern.

PULSE is the primary Garda operational IT system supporting operational members doing their day-to-day policing tasks and is now available on more than 2,000 personal computers in 342 Garda locations nationwide, including all divisional and district headquarters. Decisions to extend the PULSE system to other locations takes into account factors such as the volume of business, the amount of Garda time spent at the station and, of course, the investment cost in the installation and ongoing maintenance of the system. It was never the intention of the Garda authorities to provide PULSE in every single Garda location and requirements are kept under constant review. Additional Garda stations are added to the network on a case-by-case basis. That said, with the current level of coverage, approximately 85% of incidents originate from locations where PULSE is available, which is indicative of the real level of coverage.

With regard to the availability of the PULSE system in the Garda College in Templemore, I am informed by the Garda authorities that in addition to access to the PULSE system itself, a PULSE training database for educational purposes is in use in a dedicated facility in the Garda College and in other training facilities at other locations nationwide.

A number of major initiatives have taken place in recent years that have resulted in the further release of Garda resources for operational duties. The Garda information services centre, GISC, which is based in Castlebar, provides a service whereby gardaí who would otherwise need to return to the nearest station to input or update incident data, now do so over the telephone via civilian staff at the centre. Approximately 13,000 calls per week are handled by the centre thus releasing Garda resources for visible, front-line policing across our communities. Quality control and review of data are also managed by dedicated civilian staff at the GISC, thereby relieving sergeants of this administrative task and allowing further deployment for more operational duties.

The functionality of the PULSE system is continually upgraded and enhanced to accommodate new business requirements, policies and procedures as well as updates to reflect new legislation. In November last year a new release of PULSE was deployed. A key aspect of this release provides for electronic integration with the Courts Service whereby applications for summonses by the Garda are electronically routed to the courts criminal case tracking system, which will in return issue the summons and electronically notify the Garda through PULSE of the court date and outcome of the case in due course. This has led to direct efficiency savings for both organisations and increased Garda visibility through minimising court-related administrative work.

Further enhancements to PULSE functionality are scheduled for this year including supports for missing persons inquiries, a system to support the operation of the sex offenders register and support for firearms registration and licensing. PULSE has also been integrated with other niche systems such as the automated fingerprint identification system thereby providing access to more specialised data through a single point of entry. The Garda PULSE system is not only core to the work of every garda but will continue to be a vital tool in the detection and recording of crime in the future.