Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 October 2025
24. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average response times to 999 calls; the number of 999 calls which have gone unanswered to date in 2025; the steps his Department is taking to ensure that every 999 call is responded to in a timely manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53534/25]
View answerThe Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for all operational policing matters, including response by An Garda Síochána to emergency calls. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.
I am advised that GardaSAFE, a new computer aided dispatch system, was rolled out incrementally across the organisation in 2023. The last region, the Dublin Metropolitan Region, went live on GardaSAFE in November 2023.
I understand that while there are some reports available, these are focused on live operational aspects for the Control Rooms to monitor call volumes, etc.
As with any new system, over time and as the amount of data available from GardaSAFE increases, additional reports will be developed .
I am informed that the Garda Regional Control Centres answer every 999/112 call that Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) needs to connect. If the caller hangs up before the call is answered, the ECAS operator will stay on the call and connect the call giving all relevant information. In the rare event that a technical issue arises in one of the Regional Control Rooms, ECAS will stay on the call and route the call to a Garda call taker at an alternative location.
