Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

However, I am concerned about it. The article said gardaí driving would be unable to use their sirens, drive in bus lanes or break the traffic lights and that they would have to obey all the rules of the road. This will apply to special branch detectives even if they are called out to an armed incident. One might say this is right and that everyone should obey the rules of the road. However, gardaí may break the rules if they have permission from a chief for emergencies, etc. Obviously, every garda must be trained to drive. The Garda Síochána would be the first to say that. Is this going to handicap gardaí or tie their hands behind their back if they are not trained? It takes three weeks to train them and only ten or 12 gardaí go through the training school at any one time. This new regulation or directive did not come from the Minister. It probably came from the Garda. I want to try to do something about it before it happens. Let us suppose a garda is called out but she must obey the rules of the road. She might come up with the defence that she could not speed or she had to stop because she did not get training in the training school. It is a serious question and I have to raise it. I want the Minister to come to the House to address the matter, to ensure that money is available to train drivers and that the training school is upgraded if it is a thing that only ten gardaí can go through at a time.

I congratulate Mary Robinson on her appointment as climate change envoy.