Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 50: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether PULSE is operating efficiently; if studies have been carried out comparing PULSE with similar systems in other jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21607/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I have been assured by the Garda authorities that the Garda information system which includes PULSE is functioning very satisfactorily. The PULSE system is more widely available than ever before, with access by both Garda and civilian personnel to over 2,000 personal computers in 347 locations, including all divisional and district headquarters. Significant investment has been made over the years to improve availability and response times and I am advised that as a result, there has been virtually no unplanned downtime. From the start of 2007 PULSE was amalgamated with other systems including the fixed charge processing system to form a new combined IT system referred to as the Garda information system.

The system continues to be an invaluable tool used extensively by gardaí in the performance of their duties. Since the first phase of the system was developed in 1999, significant upgrades have been carried out to provide for, inter alia, new functionalities such as those arising from the introduction of new legislation, new business requirements and the automation of manual processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness. For example, the last release of the system in November 2008 included provision for the electronic transfer of summons details to the Courts Service and, in return, the Courts Service makes available court outcomes which are electronically updated onto the system thus removing the need for manual input. It is estimated that this alone has resulted in time savings that equate to at least 70 full-time gardaí. The next release of the system, which will be deployed next month, includes several enhancements in the areas of missing persons, the monitoring of sex offenders and firearms licensing.

The Garda Information Services Centre, GISC, which is based in Castlebar, and staffed by civilian personnel allows gardaí, who would otherwise have to return to their station to input or update incident data, to log the information over the telephone with the GISC, thus releasing Garda resources for visible, front line policing across our communities.

With regard to international comparisons, I am advised that when the concept of the system was being developed, an extensive analysis of systems in other jurisdictions was carried out to ensure that best practices were incorporated into the system. The design approach involved the development of a comprehensive data model which has ensured that the system can be extended as required without the need for extensive redesign and redevelopment. I am assured that the system will continue to be developed to meet the ongoing and future needs of the Garda Síochána.

Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister's reply but only 319 divisional and district stations and 24 network locations have PULSE while 384 other stations do not have access to it. Gardaí must have state-of-the-art technology to protect our communities up and down the country. That cannot happen if they do not have access to PULSE.

PULSE is completely out of date and behind the times, and so inefficient that criminals are getting away with their activities. I will cite one example-----

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy should ask a question rather than give an example.

Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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In Galway a judge had to apologise to the victim of a serious mugging as the culprit should have been in jail. Had he been there and reoffended within two years of release he would have been jailed but because that had not been put into the PULSE system he got away with his crimes on nine separate occasions. What contingency plans does the Minister have to ensure this does not happen again? What plans does he have to allow input of data into the PULSE system from a remote location?

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I do not accept for one minute that the system is outdated. It is not. It is probably one of the most modern available because we have kept it in line with all the best international practice and we can add to it without redesigning the system. Approximately 85% of all incidents originate from the locations in which PULSE is available. More than 13,000 gardaí have direct access to PULSE from the currently networked locations. It was never envisaged that PULSE would be available in every single location. We now have a system feeding into the service centre in Castlebar whereby every garda on the beat has a specially configured mobile telephone through which he or she can directly input information from the beat to that service centre without the need to go back to the office. In the past 12 months that information service centre created 75% of incident reports recorded on PULSE, drawn directly from gardaí on the beat using the specially configured mobile telephones, while the remaining 25% were created at station level. Only one quarter of the information recorded on PULSE comes from stations, the rest comes from the beat. It is a very modern system.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Can the Minister tell us when the PULSE system will have total coverage? Does he have a figure for the cost of the system so far? Is it not the case that it is not possible to examine an input from a particular garda because several gardaí can use the same access code? This weakness has been highlighted. Have any measures been taken to correct it?

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The annual running cost of PULSE is €18.5 million. The original cost of the deployment and development of PULSE was €61 million. It was never envisaged that it would be available at every location. It is better that it be available to gardaí on the beat so they can feed information into the system via Castlebar. As I stated, three quarters of all the information that goes onto the PULSE system, which then becomes available and is cross-referenced with the court system, is up to date.

Access to records is being considered by An Garda Síochána. The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission recommended to the Garda Commissioner that supervisory ranks of An Garda Síochána should regularly monitor the use of PULSE to ensure members adhere to their legal and disciplinary obligations. That is done on an ongoing basis.