Number of Garda cars in city down by one third

Shock new figures which show a 37% decrease in the number of Garda vehicles in Galway in just three years have led to calls for greater resources to be given to members of the force in the city.

Cllr Donal Lyons (Independent) said figures released by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter, correspond with his own findings that there were now just five vehicles available to Salthill Gardaí compared to 11 two years ago.

The figures, revealed in a Dáil reply to Deputy Noel Grealish (Independent), show that there are almost 30 fewer vehicles available to Gardaí in Galway West than three years ago.

Minister Shatter revealed that there were just 49 vehicles available to members of the force in the division at the end of January compared to 77 in 2011.

Although a new fleet of Garda cars arrived at the end of last year, Cllr Lyons said it was clear that Gardaí in Salthill and Galway had far fewer cars at their disposal than three or four years ago.

He said confirmation that there were fewer cars available came at a time of “serious concern” that the number of burglaries in Salthill and Knocknacarra was on the rise.

“Over the past six months there has been a spate of burglaries, attempted burglaries, break-in to cars and theft of personal property in the west of the city,” Cllr Lyons told the Galway City Tribune yesterday.

“I am led to believe that the number of Garda vehicles is now at an all-time low. I understand that two years ago there were 11 Garda cars available to the Salthill District. This is now down to five cars, with one of those based in the Aran Islands. This level of patrol cars available is far below what would be considered minimal policing requirements,” he said.

Cllr Lyons said the number of patrol cars being decommissioned after clocking up 300,000kms greatly exceeded the number of new vehicles being allocated to members of the force in the city.

“From my point of view, it is essential that the shortage of Garda cars be addressed in Galway West,” he said.

Cllr Lyons said confirmation of the decline in the number of patrol cars available came amid increasing concerns over house burglaries in Salthill and Knocknacarra – he received reports of seven burglaries in the west of the city last weekend.

“These figures came from Minister Shatter, not Donal Lyons or Noel Grealish,” said Cllr Lyons. “There is a need for the Garda Commissioner to increase the number of cars in Galway West as a matter of urgency.”

A Garda spokesman said 11 new cars had been earmarked for Galway West this year and three of those had been deployed to the city since the start of this month.

Minister Shatter said that €5 million had been spent on the purchase of 305 new Garda vehicles at the end of last year.

He told the Dáil on Tuesday that €18m would be spent on the entire Garda fleet in the three years from 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,” added Minister Shatter.

He said the allocation of vehicles in each area is a matter for the Divisional Officer, to ensure the continued delivery of an effective policing service.