Mr. Michael Culhane:

In the context of the fleet, the purchase of vehicles is handled through the Office of Government Procurement. It has a framework contract in place and we purchase vehicles from that contract. In regard to the maintenance of the fleet, we got sanction to tender for the maintenance of the fleet and now, having gone through a public procurement tender, we have a contract in place for maintenance. Similarly, we have contracts in place for tyres, towing of Garda vehicles and for petrol and other fuel.

On vetting, because we use regular commercial enterprises, we do not necessarily vet every supplier in the context of the goods or services they provide. That would not be practical.