Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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533. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide detailed up to date information on the current Garda vehicle fleet, including the manufacturer, model and current distribution of vehicles by district and division; the number of vehicles that are approaching the upper acceptable mileage and upper acceptable age for use as Garda vehicles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49459/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The provision and allocation of Garda resources, including transport, is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. In turn, the deployment of Garda vehicles is kept under on-going review by the Garda authorities and revised in response to policing demands.

This flexibility in allocating and re-allocating vehicles, so as to best match the allocation of resources with priorities, is crucial to the efficient management of the Garda fleet. As a consequence, the Deputy will appreciate that it is not practicable to provide these figures at District level. However, I am informed by the Garda authorities that the current Garda fleet consists of 2,459 vehicles, comprised of a number of makes/models, including: Ford, Toyota, Honda, Opel, Fiat, Citroen, Volvo, Renault, Nissan and others.

In that context, I am advised by the Garda authorities that the number of Garda vehicles by Division at the end of October 2013 is set out in the table.

Garda vehicles are retired for a variety of reasons, including where vehicles are considered beyond economic repair or as a result of accidents. I understand from the Garda authorities that the relevant manufacturers have indicated that, for safety reasons, patrol cars should be withdrawn from service when the odometer reading reaches 300,000 kilometres. Accordingly, this is the operational policy that is applied by the Garda authorities. Based on current usage, it is estimated that 93 vehicles may be retired between now and the end of the year.

I am conscious of the continuing pressures on the Garda fleet and, in that regard, I am very pleased to have secured a further €9m for investment in the fleet, made up of €5m in 2013 and a further €4m in 2014. At this stage, arising from the additional €5m which has recently been made available, the Garda authorities have arranged for the delivery of 305 new vehicles by the end of 2013. These are in addition to the 133 new Garda vehicles already made available during the year.

The most recent investment will bring to €18m the total amount spent on the Garda fleet for the three years 2012 to 2014. 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.