Derek McDowell (Labour)

Before Members finish their discussion on this topic, I wish to explore further the important issue raised by Senator Dooley. I refer to the amount of information available at any given time about disqualified people. Are there local databases or a national database which contain such information? If so, how recent is such a database and how much is known? It is important that the Garda should have a database available to it which would inform it whether a person had been disqualified. As the computerisation of the functions of the Garda Síochána occurred relatively recently, it is possible that such information does not extend back five years. However, it seems reasonable to expect that in a few years' time, there should be a national database, which can be checked by gardaí relatively easily, to ascertain whether a person has been disqualified at some point in the preceding five years. What is the present status regarding such information?