Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 300: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to upgrade the PULSE system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40941/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Garda authorities that a new release of PULSE was deployed on the 15 November 2008. This release includes the upgrading of PULSE to the latest technology platform. It also provides for electronic integration with the Courts Service whereby applications for summonses by the Gardaí will be electronically routed to the Courts Criminal Case Tracking System, which will in return issue the summons and electronically notify the Gardaí through PULSE of the court date and outcome in due course. There are efficiency savings for both the Garda and Courts organisations and it will result in increased Garda visibility through minimising court related administrative work.

The functionality of the Garda Information System which incorporates both PULSE and the Fixed Charge Processing System is continually upgraded and enhanced to accommodate new business requirements, policies and procedures as well as updates to reflect new legislation. Also, as with any major IT system, upgrades of the hardware and software are carried out from time to time.