Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 26 Nov 2002

Vol. 558 No. 1

Written Answers. - Hoax Calls.

John Dennehy

Ceist:

436 Mr. Dennehy asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of hoax or false 999 calls made during 2002; the approximate costs of dealing with these; and if measures can be introduced to deal with this matter. [23481/02]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of Garda time and resources.

I understand that there is no central database to record details of 999 calls, which are processed by the Garda. Twenty communication centres are used throughout the country to process such calls.

I am further informed that that in some cases hoax or false calls may also be made to individual Garda stations. The calculation of the cost of Garda time and resources directed towards such calls is a relatively complex exercise given the diverse range of subjects that feature in hoax calls and the varying amounts of Garda resources that may be required to determine that the call was a hoax. Measures to deal with this matter are kept under review.