Vol. 428 No. 5
21 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Justice if her attention has been drawn to a statement by the Garda to the effect that their fleet of cars is now in very poor condition and in need of replacement; the response, if any, she has given to this; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
I am aware of an article in the most recent issue of the Garda Review regarding the condition of the Garda car fleet.
I do not accept that the Garda fleet is in poor condition. There is a total of 1,498 vehicles in the Garda fleet at present as opposed to 1,250 in January, 1989. The mileage profile for the fleet at 1 January 1993 shows that 52 per cent of the fleet has under 40,000 miles recorded while vehicles with more than 100,000 miles recorded comprises less than 9 per cent of the fleet. It has been Garda policy to replace vehicles with over 100,000 miles recorded. However, a small number of cars have been retained over this limit because the vehicles concerned were continuing to give good service. I have asked the Garda authorities, however, to review their policy in this regard.
The tendering process for 1993 purchases is underway at present and high mileage vehicles will be replaced when the new deliveries arrive. As an indication of the strength of the Garda fleet there were 33 new vehicles held in stock at Garda HQ at the beginning of this month in addition to a number of used cars which are also held as spare stock and can be used as replacements as the need arises.
