asked the Minister for Defence the number of, condition of, and any other information regarding all mechanically propelled vehicles, including armed personnel carriers, presently being used by the Army.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Army Vehicles.
8.
As part of the reply, which indicates the numbers of certain mechanically propelled vehicles in use by the Permanent Defence Force, is in the form of a tabular statement, I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to circulate it in the Official Report. In the interests of security, it is not the practice to disclose details in relation to armoured vehicles. Vehicles in use by the Permanent Defence Force are maintained to the normal standards of roadworthiness.
Following is the statement:—
Military mechanically-propelled vehicles
|
Type |
No. |
|
Transport Vehicles |
|
|
Saloons |
72 |
|
Trucks 4 × 4 |
170 |
|
Trucks 4 × 2 |
169 |
|
Trucks ¾ ton 4 × 4 |
707 |
|
Ambulances |
29 |
|
Minibuses |
188 |
|
Runabouts (small cars) |
24 |
|
Coaches |
6 |
|
Gun-towers |
12 |
|
Motor-cycles |
112 |
|
1,489 |
|
|
Specialised Vehicles |
|
|
(e.g. Recovery vehicles, tipper trucks, fire-engines, mobile radios, hoists, fork lifts, etc.) |
149 |
|
Engineer Vehicles |
|
|
Dumpers, diggers, bulldozers, etc. |
66 |
|
1,704 |
Is the Minister satisfied that the vehicles at the disposal of the Army are up to the required standard and are in a proper condition? Can he tell us in round figures the number of vehicles replaced in 1985 and if he has any proposals to purchase new vehicles in 1986?
I do not have a note of the number of vehicles acquired in 1985. I can tell the Deputy that 199 vehicles were disposed of, so presumably the replacements were of that order of magnitude. Disposals in 1986 are expected to be of the order of 100 to 130, so presumably the replacements will be roughly of that order of magnitude. Replacements could possibly be less because some of the vehicles being disposed of are very old and the use made of them is quite insignificant. It would not be the case of replacing on a one-to-one basis. On the question of the standard of the fleet, of course the fleet is maintained to the normal standard of roadworthiness.