Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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130. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 105 of 25 January 2017, if her attention or that of her officials was drawn to reliability issues with digital audio recording, DAR, evidence by court users which might clarify if that system was updated in July 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5780/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions, which include the provision of information on the courts system.

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that there are no known reliability issues in relation to the Digital Audio Recording (DAR) system. The planned refinement process for DAR, which commenced in July 2016, involves a technology refresh for the system to bring both hardware and software up-to-date. All recording units (PCs) in court will be replaced with new PCs and the latest version of recording, playback and note-taking software over the next two years. This process commenced in December 2016, with new systems installed in the Criminal Courts of Justice and the Four Courts, and will be completed in 2018.