Mr. Drew Harris:

I thank the Deputy. In regard to his first point in respect of vehicles, we now have the largest fleet we have ever had. There are over 3,000 vehicles and Assistant Commissioner Hilman chairs the fleet advisory board. With any large fleet, and I think we operate one of the largest fleets in the country, it takes time to refresh that but that is certainly ongoing. We are given a capital programme every year to, in effect, replace and refresh the Garda fleet. It has expanded significantly over the last five years.

I think the detail in terms of the size of the fleet, the capital expenditure and the efficiencies that have been driven out of the fleet in regard to servicing the vehicles, etc., might be worthy of a written answer. There is a huge amount in that. We have professional fleet managers who look after the fleet.

I see the rigor with which they go about their business, particularly servicing, to make sure that work is properly and quickly done. We are a big customer and a priority customer as well. We do not tolerate long waits for vehicles easily either. We realise, and certainly fleet managers realise, that a Garda vehicle is of no use sitting and waiting for parts or for work to be done. Those vehicles of use are out on the road, so on the specific point the Deputy raised in respect of Tipperary, I will pursue that through the regional assistant commissioner because genuinely, no division should be short of vehicles. We have made huge strides in terms of provision of vehicles and hopefully I can find a resolution to the particular issues that have been raised there. In terms of expenditure, it does relate to this because it relates to the roads policing expenditure and to the quality of the vehicles that we give Garda members and the variety of our fleet. One of the innovations that we are set to introduce in the next few weeks is an unmarked HGV cab from an articulated set in order that we can in effect see into lorry cabs and look down on motorists. That is for the detection of distracted driving.

On bureaucracy and oversight, we have done a huge amount of work with the representative bodies in respect of new systems that we have brought in. The investigation management system was an area of particular focus and we have been through a whole set of iterations around working groups with very wide and extensive consultation. It is more the fear of the investigation management system now than the application of it. There are further improvements and innovations that will occur this year, a lot of it driven by suggestions made by the representative bodies and we are very attuned to their concerns. In respect of oversight, I recognise the length of time that the investigations take. Often there is a crime investigation in the first place which we report to the DPP and those processes are long before a criminal justice process may work its whole way through and then a subsequent investigation. That does not only engage ourselves but also obviously engages the Garda ombudsman. For our part within, we started a programme to make sure that these investigations we are responsible for are dealt with with all expedition in order that decisions can be quickly made and at least the files are submitted to the DPP as quickly as possible or that our own disciplining process then engages quickly.

The new Bill for An Garda Síochána introduces a new discipline and performance regime. We want to move what is now presently discipline, a good deal of which should actually sit in the performance arena, where in effect, a work plan can be drawn up to improve on performance or improve on behaviour and quickly deal with matters at a local level, rather than long-term complaints hanging over individuals. Regrettably, a small number of members of An Garda Síochána, at times breach the criminal code and those are serious investigations that take their time and require a report to the DPP. I have asked that those that I have control of are expedited as quickly as possible.

In terms of the care and well-being of our staff, we put a huge amount into this in terms of the support that we can provide for Garda members and Garda staff. As the Deputy has mentioned, we are very conscious of the difficult duties that they are asked to undertake. Attending to a fatal or serious injury road traffic collision is an awful experience and one which all Garda members regrettably have had the scarring experience of dealing with. We recognise the impact of this area and other traumatic areas that gardaí have to deal with. We have mandatory psychological assessments for those who are constantly dealing with difficult situations, including scenes of crime and those dealing with trauma, particularly child abuse images or indeed serious sexual assault allegations. As for the specific cases the Deputy has raised, we look to the divisional officers to try to resolve them locally. We emphasise the needs of an individual in terms of getting him or her through what may be a short or medium-term difficulty - sometimes it is a family tragedy or a chronic illness - and we do our best to try to meet those requirements. I point to the amount of welfare supports we have put in place in this regard. I do not know of the specific cases the Deputy refers to but obviously there are always individual cases. Perhaps we can get in contact afterwards to see whether there are specific cases I can look into myself because we want to seem to be and to act as an organisation that looks after the welfare of our members.