asked the Minister for Justice if consideration has been given to the use of tape recorders by the Garda when interviewing people; if it is proposed to make use of such equipment; and whether any pilot introductions have taken place.

(Limerick East): As I made clear during the passage of the Criminal Justice Act through the Oireachtas, the Government have decided to introduce a system for the electronic recording of the questioning of persons by the Garda and section 27 of the Act empowers me to make regulations providing for such a system.

I have established a committee representing the Garda authorities and my Department and including a specialist in electronics to examine and report on the measures necessary to introduce a system of electronic recording.

Electronic recording, whether by way of audio tape recording or video recording, would require substantial resources and would have practical implications for the criminal justice system as a whole. The committee will be conducting field trials to enable all the implications to be assessed and to determine how best to introduce the system. It is expected that the field trials will get under way shortly after the new powers of detention under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act are brought into force.