Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when arrangements will be made to instruct members of An Garda Síochána that it is not necessary to take a longhand note of interviews with persons in custody when such interviews are being electronically recorded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19613/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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My Department and the Garda Síochána, in consultation with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of the Attorney General, are considering proposals for a new system which would allow the taking of contemporaneous written notes to cease where interviews are electronically recorded.

There is however a complex range of training, technological and legal issues to be addressed before any changeover to a new system could take place, and of course the financial implications would have to be carefully assessed.

The Garda Síochána are at an advanced stage in developing proposals for the operational aspects of a new system. Because of the complexities involved, it is likely that any new system would initially be introduced on a pilot basis to allow all the operational and legal aspects to be fully tested and evaluated.