Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 June 2021
180. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Justice when the Garda Commissioner advised her of the true extent of the failure to respond to the 999 calls placed by members of the public which were recorded on the command and control systems in view of media reports in November 2020 that indicated that a significant number of 999 calls were not responded to. [35048/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra181. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Justice if the report from the Garda Commissioner to her in relation to a significant number of 999 calls that were not responded to by An Garda Síochána as reported in the media in November 2020 was made pursuant to the provisions of section 41 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. [35049/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra188. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice the steps she is taking in response to the cancelling of emergency domestic violence calls by gardaí between 2019 and October 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35309/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 180, 181 and 188 together.
I welcome the apology that was made by the Garda Commissioner last week and the Commissioner has assured me that when someone calls 999 now, they can expect and trust that An Garda Síochána will help. That should of course always be the case.
Any inappropriate cancellation of 999 calls is a very serious issue. This falls significantly below the high standards that the public expect from the Gardaí and the high standards that An Garda Síochána set for themselves. I am particularly concerned that anyone experiencing domestic abuse, and indeed anyone in a vulnerable position, who summoned the courage to seek assistance may not have received it.
An Garda Síochána wrote to the Secretary General of my Department on 4 December 2020 to inform the Department that a number of 999 calls had been cancelled on the AGS Computer Aided Despatch System and that An Garda Síochána was carrying out a review of the reasons behind this. The correspondence did not make explicit reference to section 41 of the Garda Síochána Act but was of course in keeping with the overall requirement of that section to keep the Minister and the Secretary General fully informed of matters of significance.
Following initial engagement by the Department with the Garda authorities, Minister Helen McEntee wrote to the Policing Authority on 5 February 2021 to ask the Authority to oversee the Garda review into this matter, which is ongoing. Once the Authority has completed its work, I will examine its conclusions, and any action that needs to be taken on foot of that report will be taken.
Both the Garda Commissioner and the Chair of the Policing Authority have briefed me on this matter in recent weeks. As the Deputy will be aware, the Commissioner also gave an account of these serious shortcomings at last week's public meeting with the Authority and outlined what steps have been taken to ensure it does not happen again, including how the processes have changed and that calls cannot now be cancelled other than by a supervisor. Additional training will also be provided to staff in order to ensure that they have the proper skills to carry out their duties.
The Commissioner has also confirmed to me that Gardaí are now contacting people whose 999 calls were cancelled to apologise and to ask if they require help from An Garda Síochána. It is vital that the best interests of victims of domestic abuse and anyone else whose calls were cancelled inappropriately are the priority focus throughout this process.
