Vol. 536 No. 6
220 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the extent to which on-line facilities are available to the Garda Síochána throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15331/01]
I presume the Deputy refers to the availability of PULSE systems. The overall position is that PULSE systems are fully operational at 181 locations which include divisional and district headquarters and all major city stations. Under this level of coverage, 85% of all incidents are directly captured and over 75% of Garda personnel have direct access to PULSE systems in their own stations. At the same time, training for the systems has been undertaken for members in other stations who also have the means to link up with the PULSE network indirectly. It is generally accepted that major computer systems are extremely expensive and that is why it has been decided, for the moment, to restrict the number of stations where PULSE is directly available. This is a situation that will be kept under review in the light of the availability of resources and the overall development of the systems.
Question No. 221 answered with Question No. 101.
