Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We should have a jogging party in the Oireachtas.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue which I am very pleased to discuss. Arrangements have been put in place with special funding being made available to An Garda Síochána to allow the Garda authorities to purchase a significant number of new vehicles.

We anticipated the possibility of making such a purchase last spring and went to tender in regard to identifying the motor company from whom motor vehicles could be purchased. We effected saving in the justice section of my Department which effectively made available ¤3 million for the purchase of Garda cars. The savings were crystalised in the early autumn and as I state in my script, this funding is being made available at a time of severe budgetary constraints and it represents a substantial investment in Garda transport. It will provide for an additional 170 new Garda vehicles. This is in addition to the 42 vehicles which have already been provided this year and means that the Garda Síochána has placed total orders for some 212 new vehicles in 2012. This is very beneficial.

The Garda Commissioner is making arrangements for the provision of the additional transport and it is anticipated that it will come on stream in December and January. The first cars will be allocated during December in accordance with the Garda Commissioner's decision on operational requirements. They will be rolled out to Garda divisions throughout the country.

The actual arrangements for the deployment of Garda transport are, of course, a matter in the first instance for the Commissioner in the context of his identified operational requirements. In turn, at Garda divisional level, the allocation of Garda vehicles is a matter for the chief superintendent who may make and revise arrangements for the deployment of vehicles throughout a division in response to policing demands. This flexibility in allocating and re-allocating vehicles among stations, so as to best match resources with policing priorities is crucial to the efficient management of the Garda fleet.

As a consequence, I am sure the Senator will appreciate that it is not possible to provide a breakdown of the locations to which these vehicles will be allocated. It would be wrong for the Minister for Justice and Equality to decide on where to allocate individual vehicles. This must be very much an operational decision for the Commissioner and those working under him based on perceived priorities. The deployment of Garda vehicles is subject to ongoing analysis and review. This process allows Garda management to allocate available resources within the force in the most appropriate manner to meet existing and emerging operational requirements.

I am certain that the delivery and commissioning of these 170 new vehicles will serve to enhance the capacity of An Garda Síochána to continue to provide an effective and efficient policing service to communities. I was anxious that this be progressed as rapidly as possible. Had we not gone through the tendering process last spring, this would have taken a great deal longer. If we had waited until we identified what resources we have and then started the tendering process, effectively, we would not have been in a position to acquire the vehicles until next March or April. We readied ourselves and were in position to do it and when it became clear in mid-October that funding was available, we were then able to give the go-ahead. This is probably the most rapid purchase of cars that has been authorised in the period from the announcement in October to our having a reasonable number of them in December and the remaining number in January.

The Estimates process must be completed during November as we approach the budget and there will be details in this respect announced in the budget. Without giving away any secrets, I advise the Senator that I am optimistic we will have funding to buy additional Garda vehicles in 2013. It is not the case that this is the purchase of the cars and that is the end of it. Even though some of these vehicles will not be on the road until January, I anticipate that in 2013 we will be in a position to acquire additional vehicles.