EMU chief: Staff shortage not to blame for trafficker’s escape

Elec­tron­ic Mon­i­tor­ing Unit (EMU) man­ag­er Lawrence Hinds says the unit has op­er­at­ed at just 50 per cent staffing ca­pac­i­ty since its in­cep­tion but in­sists man­pow­er short­ages were not re­spon­si­ble for the es­cape of the coun­try’s first con­vict­ed hu­man traf­fick­er, Michael An­tho­ny Smith.

Hinds made the state­ment yes­ter­day dur­ing a Joint Se­lect Com­mit­tee meet­ing on the im­ple­men­ta­tion of the Ad­min­is­tra­tion of Jus­tice (Elec­tron­ic Mon­i­tor­ing) Act, 2012.

He al­so dis­missed any sug­ges­tion that Smith had been as­sist­ed by EMU per­son­nel.