Gerry Adams
Ceist:1119. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda stations in the Louth Garda division that had access to broadband in each year since 2009. [34842/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 24 July 2018
Ceisteanna (1119)
Freagraí scríofa
As the Deputy will appreciate decisions in relation to the provision and allocation of Garda resources including ICT resources are a matter for the Garda Commissioner in light of his identified operational demands and the availability of resources and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter.
I have asked the Garda Commissioner for the specific information requested and when it is to hand I will inform the Deputy accordingly.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 1119 for answer on 24 July 2018, in which the Deputy requested the number of Garda stations in the Louth Division that had access to broadband in each year since 2009.
The Deputy will recall, the information he requested could not be obtained in the time available, and I undertook to contact him again when the information was to hand.
The Deputy will appreciate that the Garda Commissioner is primarily responsible for the effective and efficient use of the resources available to An Garda Síochána. Further, decisions in relation to the provision and allocation of Garda equipment and resources, including ICT resources and the networking of Garda stations, are matters for the Garda Commissioner in light of availability of resources and his identified operational demands. As Minister, I have no direct role in the matter.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that broadband networks and services are used to connect stations to the Garda network for official purposes. All of the connections to the Garda stations are managed in Telecommunications Division to ensure the speed of the network connection meets the requirements of the particular location.
I am further informed by the Garda authorities that there are 13 Garda stations in the Louth Division. I understand that to provide details by year would be a voluminous task and would require a manual check of billing for a ten-year period.
However, the Garda authorities have confirmed that 9 stations were connected to the Garda network in the Louth Division as of 2014. 4 additional stations in the Division have been connected to the Garda network since that time. As such, the Garda authorities have confirmed all 13 stations in the Louth Division are now connected to the Garda network.
I trust this information is of assistance.