The Garda has described as misleading reports stating that its annual crime figures are incomplete and has attributed a lack of full analysis in the 1999 report to the introduction of PULSE (Police Using Leading Systems Effectively) last September.
A Garda spokesman yesterday said statistical analysis of 81,274 indictable recorded crimes was incomplete due to the changeover from the CRIM system to the current PULSE computer system.
The report, issued officially this week, gave a statistical breakdown in only eight categories of serious crime, including homicide and armed robbery.
Some 120 types of indictable offences detailed in tables related to the first nine months of 1999.
"It is a misconception that we only totalled crime for nine months. The figures cover 12 months, but we did not carry out analysis on around 20,000 indictable crimes. There is no such thing as the right time to make a transition and we have experienced problems any large company would have," the spokesman added. Supt Frank Fitzpatrick of the Garda IT Operations and Security section said PULSE was not involved in the compilation of the 1999 figures.
Next year the new system would provide annual statistics in an automated process, including categories and offences not previously analysed.
Supt Fitzpatrick confirmed that the PULSE system had had "teething difficulties" but said he was "optimistic and confident" that it would become a useful tool for the force.
"At project level, we expected early problems and we have to manage people's expectations in a project of this size," he added.