Mr. Martin Callinan:

There are such occasions but they are few in number. There are occasions when people would apply to the authorities to use their car on duty. I will not discuss the operational reasons. Generally speaking, these cases are the exception rather than the rule. We will have heard a lot of talk and speculation in the media about the fleet and the unavailability of cars, and so on, but it is important to point out the position on vehicles. I acknowledge and thank the Government, including the Minister, for providing me with €3 million to purchase 171 vehicles this year. They will be available very early next year to assist in what is certainly becoming a difficult fleet to manage given the age profile.

That said, we have had 37 cars brought on stream in May in addition to the 171, so one is looking at 208 vehicles in the past 12 months. That is something for which I am very grateful in the context of the economic climate in which we find ourselves. It will go some way towards assisting in managing an ageing fleet. The fleet is something which must be worked on year on year or else it will be quickly depleted. We have been managing over the last couple of years to get vehicles, albeit in small numbers, but we have still managed to get those and we are very grateful for that. I am working hard with the Minister and the Department to try to provide a funding stream into the future to replace some of the other vehicles, so there are works in progress. There are certainly challenges for Garda management in providing transport for some of the operations for which we would like to provide transport. That said, we have not yet reached the point where vehicles have become such an issue that we are unable to conduct our business very efficiently. If one looks at the crime statistics right across the board, they are showing a reduction at all levels.