An Garda Síochána's Chief Administration Officer has said the force failed two civilian members when they raised concerns about the inaccurate reporting of homicide figures in the force's PULSE system.

Joe Nugent is before the Oireachtas Justice Committee, which last month heard evidence from two female members of the Garda Analysis Service that they were "belittled and poorly treated" when they raised the inaccuracies with senior management.

"We as an organisation failed the individuals concerned. We should have done more for them...

"We understood there was a process under way that was meeting their needs and that is clearly not the case. We have had to reflect on that", Mr Nugent told Independents4Change Deputy Clare Daly.

He also agreed with Fianna Fáil's justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan that the evidence of Lois West and Laura Galligan from the Garda's Analysis Service was "accurate and reliable".

As a result, 12 deaths on the force's PULSE computer system were re-classified as homicides.

Assistant Commissioner Orla McPartlin confirmed to Deputy O'Callaghan that the methodology recommended by the two civilian officers is now being used by the review group which is currently examining 41 cases.

She also confirmed the two women were part of the team reviewing the figures.

Mr Nugent said that the number of permanent staff working on the force’s Information and Communications Technology team "is way below" that which is available in other similarly sized public service organisations due to previous cutbacks in funding and this has resulted in an "excessive reliance on external" ICT contractors.

Independent4Change TD Mick Wallace was sharply critical of the force's contract with consultants, Accenture.

Mr Nugent said: "I am concerned about the excessive reliance on external resources and the excessive reliance on single provider. We are doing something to address that."

The committee was told approval had been received for extra recruitment of staff.