Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 April 2023
403. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Justice if his Department records the average time between the making of a call to a garda station and the arrival of members of An Garda Síochána at the scene; the average wait time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19112/23]
View answer404. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Justice the average time between the making of a call to emergency services and deployment of members of An Garda Síochána in each month of 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [19113/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 403 and 404 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for all operational policing matters, including responses by An Garda Síochána to emergency calls. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána operates a Regional Control Room strategy which ensures that Garda resources are available to respond to calls for service from the public, including situations where a local resource is not immediately available.
Calls for service, whether received through a local Garda station or the 999 ECAS system, are routed through the Regional Control Rooms and prioritised for response. Higher priority calls will always take priority over lower priority calls.
The Garda authorities inform me that An Garda Síochána aim to answer 80% of 999 calls within 7 seconds and deploy resources immediately giving an estimated time of arrival. An Garda Síochána will take appropriate steps to deal with all incidents and ensure that emergency and life threatening calls receive priority. They will endeavour to get to callers within 15 minutes in urban locations and as soon as possible, given the distance to be travelled, in more rural areas.
