Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This represents a considerable investment in Garda transport, particularly at a time when the level of funding across the public sector is limited. Currently, the Garda fleet consists of 2,400 vehicles, with Garda patrol cars being taken out of commission when they reach 300,000 km on the clock. That decommissioning is undertaken to ensure the safety of Garda personnel and of members of the public.

To reiterate, the provision and deployment of Garda transport are matters for the Garda Commissioner in the light of what he considers are operational requirements. The availability of resources and responsibility for the efficient deployment of all official transport in each division is assigned to the divisional officer or the chief superintendent, who may deploy vehicles between stations in response to existing police demands. The allocation of resources across all divisions is monitored and reviewed on a continual basis. Far from a situation where previous Governments in the recent past did nothing about this, with limited cash available this Government made €4 million available last year and a further €5 million this year, which will provide a significant number of vehicles, to be determined in size and specification and scale by the Garda Commissioner.

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