Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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118. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda stations that have no access to PULSE. [4493/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, decisions in relation to the provision and allocation of Garda resources are a matter for the Garda Commissioner and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter

I am, however, informed by the Garda authorities that there are some 178 stations that are not connected to the Garda Network. However, members in non-networked locations can contact the Garda Information Services Centre to provide relevant details to trained civilian call-takers who enter the details on the PULSE system.a

I would draw the attention of the Deputy to my response to Parliamentary Question No. 135 of 25 October 2016 wherein I advised that the number of non-networked stations was 167. I have now been advised by the Garda authorities that this should, in fact, have read 187 and I wish to correct the record of the House in that regard.

The Deputy will be aware that the Commissioner launched the Garda Síochána Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021 in June 2016 and that this Programme is intended to professionalise, modernise and renew An Garda Síochána to ensure that the organisation can meet present and future challenges.As part of the Programme, the matter of enhancing rural access to the Garda network by connecting non-networked sites to the network is being examined. This includes plans to introduce mobile technology solutions to enable operational Gardaí to access core information systems, including PULSE, while on duty and away from Garda stations.