The Government is to install a new communications system for the Garda at a cost of up to €100 million over the next four years.
The system will be a digital-trunked mobile radio - probably Tetra - which offers far more security than existing systems.
Based on digital rather than analogue technology, Tetra would offer the Garda a more reliable system which is less prone to gaps in network coverage. Tetra handsets are also more flexible than older radio receivers and can be used as two-way radios, mobile phones or data receivers.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said the capital allocation in the Budget for 2005-09 would enable the Garda to proceed with the roll-out of a digital radio system, which would be extended for use by other emergency services.
A decision on the exact type of digital system to be installed is expected to be made shortly by the Department of Justice.
The decision to go ahead with a digital system follows years of delay over a funding shortfall and was welcomed by the Garda Representative Association yesterday.
"We welcome this decision as it was a huge issue at our a.g.m. earlier this year when the current radio system was highlighted as a health and safety and security issue," a spokesman for the association said. "Gardaí have been forced to use their own mobile phones rather than use the current radio system."
Perhaps the biggest problem with the current analogue radio system is that it can be scanned and messages intercepted easily by criminals.
The Garda published a tender yesterday for the supply of Tetra terminal equipment.