Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 September 2020
47. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Justice the status of the staged deployment of a new national computer-aided dispatch system to capture emergency calls and dispatch of resources to the incident; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22990/20]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for carrying on and managing the administration and business of the organisation as well as for the allocation of Garda resources, in light of identified operational demands. As Minister, I have no role in those matters.
In relation to Computer Aided Dispatch, phase 1 is now complete and provides basic CAD support nationwide. This system, which supports the Command and Control function by providing real time information and streamlining calls for service, has been deployed to the 4 Regional Control Centres, DMR/Eastern Region, Western/Northern Region, South Eastern Region and the Southern Region.
As the Deputy is aware, a full modernisation of the underlying 20 year old CAD software is still required. The CAD 2 programme is currently the subject of a procurement process.
Record resources of €1.88 billion, as well as a substantial capital allocation of €116 million, have been made available to An Garda Síochána in 2020. Very significant capital investment is also being made in An Garda Síochána, including investment of €342 million in Garda ICT infrastructure between 2016 and 2021 and investment of €46 million in the Garda fleet over the same period.
The Garda Commissioner is primarily responsible for the effective and efficient use of these resources and Garda management confirm that a broad range of ICT projects and initiatives are being progressed in that regard.
This capital funding on Garda ICT infrastructure will support existing Garda ICT systems and develop them further, to support the ongoing business requirements of An Garda Síochána and enabling them to deploy the latest, cutting-edge technologies in the fight against crime.
A number of key ICT initiatives are currently moving to implementation phase, including for example projects such as:
- rollout of the Rosters and Duty Management System, which will give supervisors better and faster information on the resources available to them;
- phased implementation of the Mobility project, which aims to provide operational Garda members with secure mobile access to Garda systems along with Garda Apps including in particular in relation to roads;
- rollout on a pilot basis of the Investigations Management System, which will standardise, digitise and support the management of all investigations arising from a PULSE incident; and
- staged deployment of a new national Computer Aided Dispatch System, to capture emergency calls and dispatch of resources to the incident.
