The head of the Garda Inspectorate has said there is need for a single Garda control centre to better respond to crimes around the country, in particular incidents involving a road pursuit.

Robert Olson, Chief Inspector of the Garda Inspectorate, told Newstalk Breakfast that they are recommending the establishment of such a system whereby criminals can be tracked as they are pursued. He said a single control centre would better equip gardai to deal with issues like high speed chases and roving criminal gangs.

His comments come after an inquest into the death of Diana Harton, who was killed during a chase involving gardai in 2014, in which the car being pursued crashed into her car on the M7. The inquest heard gardai involved in the pursuit were not adequately trained to deal with the situation, and there was also a lack of organisation and communication between different garda stations involved in the pursuit.

During the course of the inquest, on Tuesday, gardaí admitted they did not have adequate training for a pursuit operation, and that despite two garda stations being involved in the chase there was no communication between the two during the incident.

“One of the big issues, and you clearly have seen it in our previous reports, is that there must be a single control room for the country. You might have a couple of centres but that’s all,” Mr Olson said.

“There’s a difference between chasing someone who is one of those Dublin robbers and someone who is speeding ... if they’re able to get those call centres up and running where they can monitor every car that is in the country I think a lot of these issues would go away.”

An Garda Síochána have this morning told Newstalk: "An Garda Síochána Code sets out guidelines for Gardaí in relation to the pursuit of vehicles.

"Garda Management are currently developing a revised Pursuit Management Policy which it is envisaged will provide greater assistance, guidance and training to Garda members involved in vehicle pursuit."

Another issue highlighted at the inquest was a lack of adequate garda training for operating garda cars in a pursuit, or even with blue lights on. Only a fraction of gardaí have the adequate training to drive a garda car with blue lights on, and a smaller number still have been taught the skills required to undertake a pursuit. The training is not included in basic training for garda recruits at Templemore.

Gardaí without training generally operate under ‘Chief’s permission’ meaning they have dispensation to operate the cars for situations where they do not have the appropriate training.

Mr Olson warned that the training, particularly for pursuits, is needed and he was surprised when he learned there was no training.

“There aren’t enough well trained officers out there, particularly in pursuit driving,” he said. 

“It’s not just blue light training (that is needed) ... (pursuit training) requires some really specialist skills.

“I was a bit amazed that there were officers with no training at all and they were driving these cars with the blue light on, which is a significant liability issue for the State frankly.”

In 2008 Mr Olson and the Garda Inspectorate recommended in a report that gardaí be given training to operate garda vehicles with a blue flashing light and in pursuits. The report found that some 2600 gardaí were driving under the ‘chief’s permission’ dispensation.

There has still been no introduction of such training for new recruits in Templemore, despite the announcement of a 600 new garda recruits in the recent Budget. The continued failure to address the issue is likely rooted in a dearth of resources, Mr Olson speculated.

“I think money did have something to do with it,” he said. “I think sometimes maybe operational duties took a priority over that.”

On yesterday’s Newstalk Breakfast, Sturat Gilhooly, the solicitor for Diana Harton’s family, who said that he and the family were “quite amazed at the admissions that the gards made about the lack of training and the lack of knowledge they had of garda pursuits.”

“The degree to which they admitted they really didn’t have a clue what they were doing, or what they were supposed to be doing, was stunning,” he said.

The jury at the Coroner's Court on Tuesday recommended that a review into pursuit procedures should be held, with Superintendent Martin Walker telling the Court he understands one has already begun.

“I was embarrassed for the gardaí through the entire inquest,” Mr Gilhooly said.

“It was almost an apathy to some degree, or maybe it was weariness... I think they’re probably sick of it themselves.”