Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 40: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he intends to include a gender quota in respect of the appointment of chairpersons of State boards; if so, the quota that will be set; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11691/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I understand from the Garda authorities that, between 2009 and to date in 2011, 294 Garda cars were withdrawn from use and that in the same period 172 new cars were purchased. Of these, 165 were purchased in 2010 and seven so far this year.

Garda vehicle purchases are managed centrally and I understand that a divisional breakdown of these figures is not readily available. Clearly budgetary constraints will be a factor in the ongoing rate of car purchases but this should be seen against the background of a major renewal of the fleet in 2007 and 2008, when more than 1,300 vehicles were purchased, to the delight of Deputy Calleary.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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That is the first time someone on the Government benches has praised someone on the Opposition benches.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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No it is not.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I could not resist his smile.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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As the Minister indicated, in the period 2009 to 2011, the number of Garda cars has reduced by 122. The Minister made a commitment previously that he would protect front line policing services. The use of Garda cars is an important factor in front-line policing. Will the Minister try to address the issue in terms of his budget for next year? I accept he does not know what the budget will be but could he give a commitment to try to restore the figures to at least what was available under the Fianna Fáil Government in 2008?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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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.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Have the Garda authorities made arrangements to dispose of the cars formerly used for the ministerial fleet? I presume the Minister is not holding his breath on making much money out of that. Have they been disposed of or what is envisaged in that regard, bar the Minister's car of course?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I anticipated that someone would not miss the opportunity to ask that question. As I said on previous occasions in reply to questions, that is an operational matter for the Garda Commissioner. In so far as there is any useful purpose to retain some of those cars I expect he will retain them. He previously said that those not required will be sold. It was only approximately two weeks ago that Ministers had to make their own arrangements to start using their own cars with civilian drivers. In the past ten or 14 days, the Garda Commissioner has had some other issues on his mind, such as the visit currently taking place and the visit of President Obama which we look forward to on Monday. I expect when those matters have been dealt with and the visits are completed, he will direct his mind as to how to best deal with the cars now being made redundant.