Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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876. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide in tabular form the total number of Garda Vehicles that are permanently located for normal police duties excluding any vehicle that may be in the County as part of a specific policing operation on a county by county basis at 30 June 2013 and that were permanently assigned to each county on 30 June 2011 and 30 June, 2012; the number of new vehicles due to be assigned to each county for 2013 and the number actually delivered up to 30 June 2013; the reason there has been a delay in locating the assigned number of vehicles in each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34441/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Decisions in relation to the provision and allocation of Garda vehicles are a matter for the Garda Commissioner in the light of his identified operational demands and available resources.

In that context, I am advised by the Garda authorities that the number of Garda vehicles assigned to each county on the dates referred to by the Deputy was as outlined in the table below:

The allocation of new Garda vehicles is undertaken on a Regional basis, as determined by the Commissioner in line with requirements, and I understand that currently vehicles are due to be allocated to Garda Regions on the following basis:

Overall, the Deputy will be aware that an additional €3 million was made available towards the end of last year which enabled the Force to procure 171 vehicles. This brought total investment in the Garda fleet in 2012 to €4 million and resulted in a total of 213 new vehicles being procured during the year. Furthermore, a specific allocation of €5 million has been provided for the purchase and fit-out of Garda transport in the current year. I am informed by the Garda authorities that to date this investment has resulted in 133 new vehicles being procured.

This represents a very considerable financial investment in Garda transport, particularly at a time when the level of funding available across the public sector is severely limited. It is a clear indication of my commitment to ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, An Garda Síochána are provided with sufficient resources to enable them to deliver an effective and efficient policing service. In keeping with this approach, I will continue to seek to identify the potential for additional funding for the Garda Fleet. This will, of course, be contingent on expenditure in other areas across and outside the Justice Sector.