Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Martin raises two issues, first, the comments about crime rates and, second, the question of transport. The Government fully understands that the Garda Commissioner runs Garda operations on a day-to-day basis. There is no interference in that regard, nor can there be, unlike what happened on a number of occasions in the past. I understand the Garda Commissioner responded this morning to allegations made in the media by the president of the Garda Representative Association, GRA. The Commissioner has no information or evidence about the allegations that were spoken about and has called formally on Garda Parker to clarify his position and provide any information or evidence he has concerning the claims he made. The Garda Commissioner has assured the public that all crimes reported to gardaí will be fully and thoroughly investigated and that, where possible, offenders will be brought to justice. The Commissioner has the full and absolute support of the Government in this regard.

The latest crime statistics show a reduction in crime under a wide range of headings, 11 out of 14. It is not a good situation to have the GRA making claims concerning which the Garda Commissioner has no evidence or facts with which to back them up. Since the enactment of the Garda Síochána Act in 2005, as Deputy Martin is aware, the Central Statistics Office is the independent national statistical agency which compiles and publishes crime statistics. The CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose, and to this end the Garda Síochána provides data to it concerning crime. General crime counting rules are published by the CSO as technical notes in each of its quarterly recorded crime reports. These notes explain when a crime is captured on the Garda PULSE system. The Minister for Justice and Equality is advised that supervisory ranks within An Garda Síochána review all incidents recorded on PULSE to ensure the correct crime classification is recorded. Further to this information, the Garda information service centre, the central authority for recording crime incidents on PULSE, also monitors and reviews PULSE information to ensure the crime classification is correct.

The Deputy mentioned transport, which was a problem in the past when no finance was provided for the acquisition of vehicles. I repeat to the Deputy that it is the Garda Commissioner who, entirely independent of Government and along with his personnel, decides which vehicles, according to type and specification, should be purchased. In 2012, 213 Garda vehicles were purchased at an overall cost of €4 million-----

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