Authority flags 'critical' Garda IT funding to minister a second time

Policing Authority writes to Justice Minister a second time on the issue

A personal visit by Policing Authority chairperson Bob Collins reinforced his position on the need for additional capital expenditure for the Garda Síochána in the area of information and technology. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The Policing Authority has written to Justice Minister Helen McEntee a second time to highlight the “critical” funding situation for Garda information and technology projects.

The authority said these monies were necessary in order to implement policing reforms and priorities and boost the capacity of the Garda organisation. The second correspondence follows a letter submitted to the minister last November saying it was “imperative” there was urgent investment in garda technology.

The letters follow discussions with Garda HQ and, most recently, a personal visit by authority chairperson Bob Collins and chief executive Helen Hall to the Garda Síochána Innovation Centre.

The issue is one of the agenda items for discussion at Thursday’s public meeting between the authority and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and his senior team. The meeting is set to discuss how information and technology can “enhance policing performance”.

During the visit to the Garda Innovation Centre, the authority’s leadership was given an update on the implementation of the Garda Information and Technology Vision 2020-2023 and the “challenges” Garda HQ was facing.

“The chairperson observed that the visit had served to reinforce the authority’s position, as articulated to the Minister for Justice, on the need for additional capital expenditure for the Garda Síochána in the area of information and technology,” according to authority documents.

Members of the authority subsequently discussed the matter last December and approved draft correspondence for the minister to highlight the “critical nature of having appropriate levels of funding” for Garda information and technology.

The letter cited the importance in terms of “public policy, policing priorities and resource capacity” in the Garda Síochána.

Garda sources have previously told the Irish Examiner that the bulk of Government investment in Garda ICT has for many years been spent on “maintaining current systems”, with little left to invest in new systems and technology. 

The Garda technology strategy, which runs until 2023, covers a wide area, including:

• Replacing the old Garda Pulse system, including with new modern systems for investigation management [already developed but not yet deployed], budget, human resources, property management, risk management, enterprise content management and rostering;
• New regional control and contact centres, including computer-aided dispatch, a secure digital radio service, the rollout of ICT for regional cybercrime units, a new fingerprint system, biometric identification services, digital interview recording systems and investment in ICT for the garda national security and intelligence service;
• Providing mobility devices to all gardaí as well as body-worn cameras and garda vehicles with computer-aided dispatch and access to records management systems and a new automated number plate recognition system

The Department of Justice said an additional €22m was provided for the Garda ICT in Budget 2021, bringing the total to over €70m for a second year.

It said that a separate, specific provision of €7m was made for the provision of additional mobile devices.