Catherine Connolly
Question:
237. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the full-year cost of recruiting four additional full-time vehicle technicians for An Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20807/19]
View answer
As the Deputy will appreciate, in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for managing and controlling the administration and business of An Garda Síochána, including arrangements relating to the recruitment and training of members. Further, the allocation of Garda resources is a matter for the Commissioner, in light of identified operational demands. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.
I have asked the Commissioner for the information requested and when it is received I will write directly to the Deputy.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 237 for answer on 14 May 2019 in which the Deputy asked the full year cost of recruiting four additional full-time vehicle technicians for An Garda Síochána.
The Deputy will recall that the information could not be obtained in the time available and I undertook to consult with An Garda Síochána and contact her again when the information was available. I apologise for the delay in responding while I consulted with An Garda Síochána on this matter.
As the Deputy will appreciate, in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for managing and controlling the administration and business of An Garda Síochána, including arrangements relating to the recruitment and training of members. Further, the allocation of Garda resources is a matter for the Commissioner, in light of identified operational demands. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that currently there are no vehicle technicians employed by An Garda Síochána.
The Garda authorities instruct that when posts are advertised for full time vehicle technicians they will be at various Engineer levels, which will determine the cost involved. It is not possible to accurately provide a costing until the relevant engineer levels are known.
However the Deputy may be interested to know that the Garda authorities have informed me that Hyundai and Ford have the current contract for the service repair and maintenance of all Garda vehicles.
Contracts are in place for a nationwide network of approved suppliers to carry out body work (crash) repair on Garda vehicles. ARM Ltd have the current contract for the bodywork contract repair since 1 March 2019.
Finally, I am informed that a comprehensive servicing regime is in place for all Garda vehicles. Generally, vehicles are serviced every 15,000kms or once annually in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines. In addition, when vehicles have reached an odometer reading of 200,000kms they are subject to a further safety check every 10,000kms.
I am sorry that I cannot provide you with the exact costing requested but I trust this information is of assistance.
