Almost half of local garda stations not connected to PULSE

The Minister for Justice has revealed that almost half of all Garda stations in the Galway are not connected to the PULSE computer system.

The news comes in the same week that it was revealed there are four Garda Stations in County Galway that no longer have a Garda permanently assigned to them.

Minister Frances Fitzgerald has admitted that 24 out of the 46 Garda stations – right across the county – have no access to PULSE.

The figures were released to Fianna Fáil TD for Galway East Anne Rabbitte, who said this week that she was shocked by revelation.

“The fact that only half of Garda stations in the county are connected to PULSE is extremely worrying.  This is the Gardaí’s primary method of recording information and evidence and is an essential tool in the fight against crime,” she said.

Among the stations without access to PULSE are Corrandulla, Monivea, Killimor, Woodford, Eyrecourt, Kilrickle, Ardrahan, Ballygar, Ahascragh, Kilconnell, Kiltormer, Moylough, Williamstown, Milltown, Glenamaddy and Corofin.

Connemara stations without access include Recess, Letterfrack, Maam, Roundstone, Ros Muc, Indreabhán, Leitir Móir and Cill Rónáin on the Aran Islands.

“The majority of these stations are in rural areas – many of these communities have seen marked decreases in Garda numbers and are fearful about crime levels.  These latest revelations will do nothing to appease their concerns,” said Deputy Rabbitte.

“The point of a national system is to have all stations feeding their data in so that a national picture of the incidences of crime can be monitored, and remedial action, in terms of resourcing and planning, can be taken.

“The Minister must work with the Garda management to ensure all of our stations are feeding into the PULSE system as quickly as possible,” she added.

Meanwhile there are four Garda Stations in County Galway that no longer have a Garda permanently assigned to them.

The four unmanned rural Garda Stations include Kiltormer, Ardrahan, Corofin and Milltown; Corofin lost its permanent Garda since 2015.

The stations are policed by Gardaí from neighbouring stations.

The figures were released to the Ireland edition of The Times, an online sister publication of the Sunday Times.

An Garda Síochána had resisted releasing information about staffing levels at each station across the country, following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from The Times.

However, it provided a breakdown of the number of Gardaí at each of the 564 stations in Ireland after being directed to do so by the Information Commission.

The figures reveal that some seven per cent of all Garda stations nationally, or 37 out of 564, no longer have a permanent Garda assigned to them and are policed by officers from other stations.

The four unmanned Garda stations in Galway are in addition to the ten that were closed a few years ago.

In 2013, the Government closed the doors on ten Garda stations in the county.

The closed stations were Ballymoe and Kilconly in the Tuam District; Kilchreest, Kilcolgan and Shanaglish in the former Gort District, which is now downgraded; Kiltullagh in the Galway District; Leenane in the Clifden District; Menlough in the Ballinasloe District; and New Inn and Tynagh in the Loughrea District.

The cost of maintaining County Galway’s network of shut-down rural Garda stations amounts to nearly twice as much as the savings accrued from the closures.

The Government confirmed the net-cost to the Exchequer of maintaining the 10 rural Garda stations that were closed in Galway in 2013 is €3,000 per station per year.

The Department of Justice has confirmed that the annual saving arising from the closure of 139 Garda stations in 2013 is €4,000 per Garda station. But the Office of Public Works (OPW) has conceded that it is spending some €7,000 per station every year to maintain the closed buildings.