Garda mobile calls: The State paid more than €1.1 million for mobile telephone calls made by gardaí last year, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General's report.
The report says there are now about 1,000 gardaí with official mobile phones.
Under a deal agreed between the Government and telephone operator Esat (now O2) in 1997, the charges for these phones are offset against licence-fee income for masts erected on Garda stations. Last year just over €2 million was due in licence-fee income on the 185 masts in place. However, the net receipt to the State was €921,031 when the cost of the mobile calls was deducted.
The report states that, although the deal on masts was agreed with the telephone company in 1997, no licence-fee income was received until 2003 due to delays over arbitration.
No interest was received on the money due as there was no provision for this in the agreement.
The C&AG said he had been informed by the accounting officer for the Garda allocation, the secretary general of the Department of Justice, that gardaí were using mobile phones as a stopgap measure pending the introduction of a new official digital radio system.
"He informed me that there are recognised security issues with the existing Garda analogue radio systems. While the GSM network is not considered to be a replacement for an emergency service network, it does provide an important element of security. This is considered very beneficial to the Garda organisation and is, to some degree, a stopgap measure until the new digital radio system is introduced.
"Plans for a new radio system were progressing as quickly as possible. The new system would have the requisite level of security and is expected to lead to a considerable reduction in the number of mobile phones required by the gardaí," the report states.
It says phones provided to gardaí can only be used for official purposes and that daily use in excess of €40 is flagged for examination.
Electronic and paper bills are issued monthly and are also reviewed. All calls to premium numbers are blocked.
