Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive response. We have to do this this year. The Minister knows it is an issue that is close to my heart. It is not a criticism of the Garda but an observation of its recording system. It is only 70 miles to Newry where the PSNI do it differently. I sent a template of that to the Garda Commissioner and to the Minister's office last week. I made the point at the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence that the scene of the crime is the first place we must record the right information, and that is not happening. In terms of the women, children and men in this situation, we need to record the information properly, and the DASH system used by the PSNI is from where we need to start. The legislation on punishments and so on can come in at the back end but I would hope the template I sent would be put in place in a pilot programme. I have no doubt the Garda Commissioner takes this matter seriously, and I welcome last week's changes also.