Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

What the Deputy is missing is that new cars were purchased at a time when there would have been a substantial number of cars that were at the end of their life. One does not get rid of the ones that are no longer reliable to use until one has the new cars in place. The figures do not in fact result in the Garda being in a worse position today than it would have been previously.

The Deputy should be aware that many demands are made on Garda vehicles. There is nothing new in the withdrawal of Garda cars from service. It is an ongoing process which has always operated within the Garda fleet. We are concerned with the removal of vehicles that had reached the end of their user life. For the safety of Garda members and the public, it is essential that cars used by the Garda are fully fit for purpose. The Garda authorities have informed me that they have made arrangements to have special safety intervention servicing carried out to vehicles with more than 160,000 km on the clock. On that basis the manufacturers have confirmed that their vehicles are suitable for use from a safety point of view to up to 300,000 km. Apart from catering for safety requirements, the measure has significantly extended the operational life of a Garda car. At this stage the Garda is a good deal better off with regard to the number of cars available to it than would have been the case some years ago.

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