Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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72. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí who retired from the force to date in 2022. [60506/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for all matters relating to personnel within An Garda Síochána. As Minister I have no direct role in such matters.

I am informed that at 30 November 2022 there were 340 retirements recorded by the Garda authorities for 2022. This includes applications on hand up to the 31 December 2022. I am advised that the total figure includes voluntary, compulsory and cost-neutral early retirements.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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73. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the actions she has taken and plans to take in response to the substantial shortcomings found on handling of 999 calls; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60572/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Any inappropriate cancellation of 999 calls is a very serious issue and falls significantly below the high standards that the public expect from the Gardaí and the high standards that An Garda Síochána sets for its members.

Minister McEntee requested the Policing Authority to oversee the ongoing work by An Garda Síochána to review how 999 calls are handled.  The Authority commissioned an external expert, Derek Penman, to conduct an examination of the adequacy of the review being undertaken by An Garda Síochána of the invalid and unwarranted closure of Computer Aided Dispatch incidents. 

The purpose of this external examination was to give independent, expert assurance and advice to the Authority, to the Commissioner and most importantly to the public.  The assurance sought was that the methodology being used by An Garda Síochána to examine incidents will deliver what is required to understand what happened, its impact and how the organisation can prevent its reoccurrence. 

The Policing Authority published an interim update by the independent expert last November and it outlined key findings and recommendations, which were accepted by the Commissioner.  The second phase of Mr Penman's examination involved listening to a structured sample of calls in order to assess the quality of the response provided to callers. This work is now completed and his final report was published on 29 September.  Mr. Penman has recommended that An Garda Síochána concludes the CAD Review and ceases any further retrospective analysis of incidents. He further recommended that An Garda Síochána concentrates its resources on improving the current call handling arrangements.

I am sure the Deputy will agree that the most important thing now is that we consider the report and learn from it so that no person who falls victim to a crime, or finds themselves in any emergency situation, ever has any reason to feel less than 100% confident in contacting the emergency services.

I welcome the apology that has already been made by the Garda Commissioner on this matter and the fact that An Garda Síochána has fully accepted the findings and recommendations of the Report. I am assured by the Garda authorities that an appropriate disciplinary process is being followed in respect of certain aspects of the issues identified.

Furthermore, I am assured that when someone calls 999 now, they can expect and trust that An Garda Síochána will deliver a greatly improved service. For example, new measures and controls are in place to ensure call-takers have access to all the supports they need to carry out their challenging roles appropriately and that this will continue to be the subject of close supervision by Garda management.  The Policing Authority will continue to engage with the Garda authorities to oversee this work and the implementation of the recommendations made.

Furthermore, the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill includes audio recordings of calls within the definition of ‘documents’ which the Garda Commissioner is required to produce on the request of the new Policing and Community Safety Authority. This is intended to support future call handling assurance, as recommended by Mr Penman, and as requested by the Policing Authority.