Negotiations for the renting of a new secure radio communications system for the Garda are expected to be concluded within weeks, according to Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
He rejected Opposition criticism that a pilot project for the system had been completed three years ago and that he had announced a year ago that a tender would be issued and finalised by the beginning of this year. The Minister said the issue had not been dealt with in the lifetime of previous governments.
The system would have cost €100 million to buy but he had "avoided the pitfall which was put to me of purchasing an entire system with a huge capital outlay", said Mr McDowell. It would be rented instead.
Fine Gael's justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said the present walkie-talkie system was more than 20 years old, and the pilot scheme to test the new system was completed more than three years ago.
"Does the Minister accept that when I raised this issue as a matter of urgency a year ago, he told me a tender was to issue to the marketplace to be finalised in the new year?" The Minister said he was surprised on coming into office that it had been left undone for so long.
It also emerged during justice questions that there were net receipts of €8.05 million, after phone costs were deducted from the gross licence fee, under the agreement for the installation of Esat Digifone (now 02) masts on Garda stations.
A total of 998 mobile phones have been given to the Garda under the agreement and mobile phone costs within the 086 network are free.
Labour's spokesman Joe Costello said the Government had to wait six years before it received arrears of €3.6 million, without interest, from the company, but the Minister pointed out that the rainbow coalition had signed the deal days before it left office and had failed to make provision for interest on late payments.
