David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has made a comprehensive, interesting and helpful reply but at the same time I do not really think he has grasped the nettle of the immediacy of the situation. What we are contemplating here is not a situation that can wait for a few hours, a day or whatever period it is. It is a situation where violence is imminently present and a person, usually but not always a woman, has to be protected. The other matter is that of bogus calls. That is why I put down "secure electronic communication". I assume it is not beyond the wit of members of the Garda to identify themselves in a way that a bogus caller would be unable to do. While I can imagine a situation where somebody might make bogus calls if he or she wanted to be a nuisance and pester and harass somebody, I believe members of the Garda would be able to identify themselves as such. Perhaps we could recommend that the Garda gives consideration to a situation where its members can identify themselves as being particular gardaí. The question of bogus calls is not an insurmountable problem. They can be dealt with in the rare instances that they occur.