Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the details of updates or modifications which have been made to PULSE since its rollout; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8469/05]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 150: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the extent to which the absence of a PULSE terminal in many Garda stations impacts upon the presence of gardaí in such stations and the ability of a sergeant to supervise or check the input of data into PULSE by gardai from such stations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8470/05]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 151: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason no study has been conducted or account been taken of the amount of Garda time lost in travelling to and from Garda stations to input data into the nearest PULSE terminal, the amount of Garda time lost in inputting data into PULSE and the amount of Garda time lost due to the slowness of the PULSE system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8471/05]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 152: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the longest distance between a Garda station which does not have PULSE and a Garda station which does have a PULSE terminal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8472/05]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 153: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the way in which the PULSE system compares to computer systems of technologically advanced police forces in other jurisdictions under the headings of availability, efficiency, operability and effectiveness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8473/05]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 154: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a patrol car can be periodically unavailable for normal patrols because a garda has to take it to travel to another station to input date into PULSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8474/05]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 155: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the details of the implementation of plans to recruit civilians to input data into PULSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8475/05]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 156: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of other jurisdictions whose representatives in the past three years have visited the State to see PULSE with a view to acquiring the same system for their own police forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8476/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 149 to 156, inclusive, together.

In replies that I have given to parliamentary questions on PULSE on a number of occasions recently, I have addressed this matter in considerable detail. In that regard, I refer the Deputy to my most recent response to his Priority Question No. 59 on Wednesday, 16 February 2005.

The specific additional information requested by the Deputy is as follows: PULSE is the primary IT operational system for the Garda Síochána. It manages incidents from its initial capture through to final disposition of the incident, including recording of court outcomes where appropriate. Due to the scale of the system, it was implemented in four major releases from April and May 1999 to October and November 2003. Between these major releases, smaller releases addressing application fixes and small scale additional functionality have been undertaken. Development of the system is always subject to review. For example, a pilot project on the electronic transfer of summons applications to the Courts Service and receipt of courts schedules and court outcome data is at the early stage of development.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that PULSE compares favourably to computer systems used by other police forces. The system operates on a 24 hours per day, 365 days per year basis and during 2004 was operational for 99% of that time. One of the features of PULSE is that it is an integrated system with information captured once only and made available to operational members as required, including the provision of a single point for searches and queries. There was extensive user involvement in the design of the system to ensure that there is a consistent "look and feel" across all system areas.

Under the present coverage of PULSE, at 181 locations nationwide, over 75% of Garda personnel have direct access to the system in their own stations. I might point out that it was never the intention to have the PULSE facility in all 703 stations, many of which are manned for a limited number of hours per day or, in some cases, per week.

A review of the effectiveness of PULSE will be undertaken in the context of the Garda Síochána Information and Communications Strategy 2005-09. One of the issues for review is the approach to further extension of the system to non-networked locations. On the issue of the most appropriate way of inputting data to PULSE, including the amount of Garda time involved in the process, a working group has been set up to consider these matters. Consideration is being given by the group, inter alia, to call centre type operations using civilians. While I do not want to pre-empt the outcome of the various streams of work currently underway, my aim is for the PULSE system to operate in the most effective and efficient way possible.

From time to time the situation does arise when members travel to the nearest networked station to input and update PULSE data. However, I am advised by the Garda authorities that this practice is kept to a minimum and generally affects rural areas where there is a smaller number of PULSE incidents. The longest distance by road between a Garda station which is equipped with PULSE and one that is not so equipped is 39 miles.

On the question of supervision or checking of the input of data, a supervisory sergeant has the ability to log onto the system and review all incidents created. Finally, I am advised by the Garda Authorities that in the past three years there have been three visits by other jurisdictions, namely Norway, Iceland and Spain, to view the PULSE system.