REPORT ON AXED 999 CALLS IS WORRYING
THE Taoiseach has described a report into the controversy surrounding the cancelling of 999 calls by gardai as “very worrying”.
The Policing Authority report on the force’s review of the closure of computer-aided dispatch (CAD) incidents identified several incidents with “substantial shortcomings”.
Mr Martin said: “I think the public must have complete confidence in that system, that when they ring a 999 call that they get an immediate and appropriate response because obviously people when they ring that number, in the vast, vast amount of cases it is because they are in distress and in need of support.
“Now I’ve no doubt that the (Garda) Commissioner will be going before the
Policing Authority and the relevant Oireachtas committee too to account for that and to outline the steps that An Garda Síochána are taking and will continue to take in addressing that issue. But it’s a serious issue.”
The authority commissioned Derek Penman to carry out an examination in July 2021, having become aware in December 2020 of issues relating to the invalid closure of CAD incidents. Thousands of emergency calls were cancelled, meaning some victims did not receive the help they called for.
Recording
The final report was published following a call recording sampling phase which consisted of Mr Penman and his team listening to recordings of 210 calls made to the service in order to assess the quality of the response.
The report said that overall, call takers meet the standards the public expect, but warned there were “inconsistencies both within and across the four regional control rooms”.
It added: “Several incidents were identified with substantial shortcomings in call handling. Although there was the potential for serious harm to victims due to such shortcomings, no actual harm was identified from the sample examined in the call listening phase.”