Galway Gardaí ‘lose’ 15% of squad cars in five years

The numbers of Garda cars available to Galway Gardaí has reduced significantly since the recession hit.

New figures released by the Department of Justice show that 15% fewer Garda cars are on the streets and roads of Galway this year compared with in 2008.

And Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s figures confirm that the numbers of Garda cars in Galway have been consistently put off the road over the past five years, without being replaced.

Minister Shatter also conceded that more cars will be decommissioned locally before the end of the year. 

The figures show that there were 93 Garda vehicles available to Gardaí in the Galway Division in 2008.

But that figure had steadily decreased every year since and now, as of September 2013, there are 79 Garda vehicles available.

That represents 14 fewer Garda cars, or about 15% of a reduction. The decrease in cars comes arguably when they are needed more than ever after the Minister earlier this year closed up to a dozen rural Garda stations in Galway.

The Garda cars were withdrawn because they had reached the 300,000 kilometre mark on the clock, and they were effectively decommissioned for health and safety reasons.  The problem is they have not been replaced due to funding cuts.

“Garda vehicles are retired for a variety of reasons, including where vehicles are considered beyond economic repair or as a result of accidents,” Minister Shatter said.

“Also, I understand from the Garda authorities that the relevant manufacturers have indicated that, for safety reasons, vehicles should be withdrawn from service at certain stages.

“Accordingly, this is the operational policy that is applied by the Garda authorities. Based on current usage, it is estimated that approximately 456 Garda vehicles may be retired between now and the end of the 2014.

“Overall 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,” he said.