Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a justice-related issue, I first want to offer my personal condolences and commiseration to the family and colleagues of Garda Kevin Flatley, who tragically lost his life at the weekend in the course of his duty.

The issue I wish to raise with the Taoiseach is that of the 999 dispatch system, particularly in respect of the Garda. People in general are not aware of the changes that were made by the Commissioner, in that they are no longer in a position to ring their local Garda stations and there is now an obligation on them to ring 999 in all incidents, no matter whether they are small or large, serious or otherwise. This is counterintuitive for members of the public who have been around for a long time and view 999 as something for a very serious incident or emergency. Members of the public are sometimes required to ring 999 for a minor issue, perhaps a small gang of youths who may be acting in an intimidating way, yet, at the same time, it is potentially a quality-of-life-changing issue.

Most of the public are still unaware of this new system. They find it very frustrating when they ring their local Garda station and are told they have to ring 999 instead. However busy the local stations may have been in the past, where a call has been made, people were always more likely than not to get a call back or a visit from a local garda after reporting an incident. However, under this 999 system, a 999 caller in many cases does not get a call back and may never hear back from gardaí.

This is because calls are triaged in 999 call centres and limited resources are despatched to the most serious incidents. As late as yesterday I received a WhatsApp message asking whether the local Garda station was still taking calls. I witnessed in my constituency a minor public order incident escalating to a very serious life-threatening issue. This happened yards from a local Garda station. By the time the issue was triaged in the 999 system it was ten or 15 minutes later and the perpetrator had disappeared. The same person turned up at the same shopping centre the next morning. The system may be working from a Garda management point of view but, unfortunately, from a consumer point of view it seems to be quite weak.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Brabazon for raising the issue. I take the essence of his point on local Garda stations having the capacity to respond to calls but this would not be uniform throughout the country. There are times when Garda stations are open and not open, particularly in the middle of the night, and this could create limitations.

As Deputy Brabazon knows, between 2019 and 2020 it was discovered that hundreds of 999 calls were prematurely cancelled or classified as non-criminal by control room operators, sometimes without dispatching officers or accurately logging the incidents. As a consequence of this, the Policing Authority commissioned an independent expert, Derek Penman, to carry out a review. He is a former chief inspector of the constabulary in Scotland. This review found that victims were left unsupported and crimes were not investigated. It made a number of recommendations designed to improve the service members of the public receive when they phone 999 for assistance. At that time, the Garda Commissioner issued an apology and An Garda Síochána accepted the findings of the report.

The 999-112 emergency call service was significantly modernised, reflecting the changes recommended by the independent report. The Policing Authority reviewed the implementation of Mr. Penman's recommendations and it was extremely positive about the changes made. These calls are routed through the regional control centres and prioritised for response. GardaSAFE, the new Garda computer-aided dispatch system, was rolled out incrementally throughout the organisation in 2023.

The other issue, which Deputy Brabazon said, is that what might appear trivial on the surface, such as a noise complaint, a confused caller or a welfare concern, can sometimes mask deeper problems such as a mental health crisis, domestic abuse or situations involving vulnerable people. In some instances, in the aftermath of the 999 call controversy where serious incidents were wrongly dismissed, erring on the side of caution has helped to rebuild public trust to ensure no legitimate cry for help is ignored. That said, I will reflect on what Deputy Brabazon said and I will speak to the Minister for Justice in respect of whether back-up can be provided via local Garda stations.

Concerns have been raised by members of An Garda Síochána and the GRA as gardaí can be frustrated in terms of particular calls that may fall well below the threshold of a criminal complaint. This can strain resources and lead to a use of resources that is not the best. There is legislation and it is an offence to waste Garda time.

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Taoiseach and I welcome the fact he will raise the matter with the Minister for Justice.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will do that and I will come back to Deputy Brabazon because there is an issue in terms of how we best utilise local facilities and local resources in response to issues that could be dealt with in a quicker and more accelerated way rather than burdening the central system.