Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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107. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which the structures of An Garda Síochána are adequate to meet the challenges of modern criminality; his plans to modernise same including the use of technology; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22820/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of these resources.

The Government approved a major Five Year Reform and High Level Workforce Plan for An Garda Síochána in July 2016 based on the implementation of the Garda Inspectorate’s recommendations contained in its report "Changing Policing in Ireland" in tandem with the delivery of the Government’s commitments in relation to increasing the overall Garda workforce. The Commissioner's Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021 will be the vehicle through which the agreed recommendations of the Inspectorate Report, the bulk of which have been accepted, will be implemented. 

The key structural change under the Five Year Reform and High-level Workforce Plan is the replacement of the current District model of policing with a Divisional model where responsibilities will be allocated on a functional rather than geographical basis, subject to modifications to ensure the close relationship with communities is maintained in both urban and rural areas.

The Divisional model is being out on a phased basis starting with a pilot programme. The four Divisions of DMR South Central, Cork City, Galway and Mayo have been selected for the pilot in order to provide a mix of urban and rural policing environments. This new model will support the more flexible and effective deployment of Garda resources.

It should be noted that the Programme for a Partnership Government recognises that Gardaí must have the modern technology and resources necessary to detect and investigate crimes, and to prevent loss and harm to citizens and their property on a 24/7 basis.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that ICT is recognised as an essential tool for supporting the day-to-day operations of over 16,000 Garda members, Garda reserves and civilian staff. On an annual basis, approximately 13.5 million vehicle registrations are read by the Automated Number Plate Recognition System, 1.9 million records are exchanged electronically with the Court Services, 9.3 million PULSE searches are conducted, 19.5 million TETRA secure digital radio calls are made and 118,000 fingerprints are searched.

The Commissioner’s 5-year Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021 sets out a series of initiatives including those which will enable An Garda Síochána deploy the latest cutting-edge technologies in the fight against crime.  In support of this plan, some €342 million, including €217 million under the Capital Plan, is being invested in Garda ICT infrastructure between 2016 and 2021.

In this context, a broad range of ICT projects are being delivered to support existing systems and develop them further, with the overall goal of supporting the ongoing business requirements of An Garda Síochána in all fields.

Some key ICT projects include:

-  a new Property & Exhibits Management system, which has been deployed to record all property and exhibits which come into Garda possession and to manage them from scene to court.

-  A new e-Vetting system is now operational which provides online processing of applications for Garda vetting for persons working with children and vulnerable persons. This system won the national eGovernment Award for 2017.

-  A new Anti-Money Laundering application (GoAML) which supports Financial Intelligence Units to counter Organised Crime and Terrorist Financing and Money Laundering was implemented in June 2017.

-   new Enterprise Content Management System, to provide An Garda Síochána with a single enterprise content repository for all documentation and multimedia content created. A pilot of this system has been completed and rollout to all Divisions is currently being progressed.

-  Enhancement of the PULSE system, to include Individual Victim Assessment and Victim Engagement screens and to include new functionality to enable Garda supervisors monitor the progress of incidents from initial data input right through to court outcome stage.

-  A new Performance, Accountability and Learning Framework System has been developed to support performance assessment and development for all Gardaí. National rollout is currently underway.

-  A new system operational since May 2017 enables the electronic capture of the details of all emergency calls to those Garda Divisional control rooms

-  A new Intelligence Management System is operational and provides a single secure repository of sensitive intelligence gathered by operational members.

-  A project to enhance network access to rural Garda stations is being progressed. Work on this project is well advanced and over 470 stations are now connected to the Garda network.

-  A new Crime Investigations Management System is currently being developed and is planned to commence pilot implementation in late 2018. The system will allow for the management of activities completed as part of an investigation, maintain a full history of the chain of events in an investigation, manage information gathered, and decisions/actions taken. It will also integrate closely with the new Document and Content Management System, the new Property and Exhibits Management System, and other Garda IT systems such as PULSE.

-  A project to implement a new Rosters and Duty Management System is currently underway.  A pilot of the system is planned to commence in the first half of 2018.

-  A project to provide mobile access for front line Gardaí, via a smartphone device, to Garda Information Systems including PULSE is currently being advanced. A pilot of the mobile solution is currently in progress in the Limerick Garda Division, which will be evaluated on completion as part of consideration of further rollout.

-  Preparatory work is now being completed on a future project intended to implement a new national Computer Aided Dispatch System to manage the capture of the details of all emergency calls and the dispatch of resources to the incident has commenced.

In addition, An Garda Síochána, in collaboration with the Department of Justice and Equality, is actively progressing a number of EU ICT Projects to improve police co-operation and increase border security within the EU Community. These include:

-  implementation of the FIND solution which is now operational enabling the Garda National Immigration Bureau to query the Interpol Stolen Lost Travel Document Database (STLD);

-  implementation of the PRüM initiative which delivers enhancements to the Automated Finger Printing System to step up cross-border cooperation in relation to terrorism, crime and illegal immigration; and

-  implementation of the Schengen Information System which is planned to be ready for evaluation by the EU Commission by mid 2019 and which will enable the rapid dissemination of information pertaining to organised crime targets and terrorist threats and other subversive and non-subversive crime types across members’ states of the European Union.

The investment in resources and reforms being driven by the Modernisation and Renewal Programme will support all Garda activities and enable the Commissioner to deploy the significant resources available to An Garda Síochána to effectively tackle the challenges of modern criminality.

Finally, the Deputy will be aware that the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland was established by Government in April 2017 to undertake an independent, comprehensive examination of all aspects of policing including the structures of An Garda Síochána. The Commission is to report by September this year and I look forward to its recommendations.