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MINISTER FOR JUSTICE Alan Shatter announced today that 305 new garda vehicles will be delivered before the end of this year.
Some €9 million for the purchase of new vehicles for the fleet was announced in Budget 2014 and Shatter said today €5 million of this will be made available before the end of 2013.
Speaking today, the minister said the funding is “a clear indication” of his commitment to ensure that gardaí are provided with sufficient resources.
However President of the Garda Representative Association John Parker told TheJournal.ie that the new vehicles “will only keep us at our current level”.
“We need an investment of about €6 or €7 million per year and that amount will keep us at the current level of vehicles but there’s been a substantial reduction in numbers since 2009,” he said. “This doesn’t allow much movement when there’s a vehicle off the road or a major operation so while we welcome the roll-out of new vehicles, going forward, we’d like to see an increase to bridge the gap between what we had and what we have now.”
He said the €5 million announced today “would have been announced anyway” as these new vehicles were already due to come on stream.
So far this year some 133 new vehicles have already been made available but Parker said that a vehicle is retired at least every two days.
The new vehicles announced today will be provided by Hyundai and Ford. This will not include garda traffic or escort bikes which have also seen a decline in numbers from 238 in 2009 to 170 in March of this year. Almost 130 of these bikes were more than five years old and one source said they are considered “bottom of the pile” of priorities for replacement.
The minister said today the remaining €4 million announced in the budget will be made available over the course of next year.
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I’m wondering why they’re still buying normal family cars and adding radios/lights and a lick of paint.
I sure wouldn’t want to be in one of those cars when a high speed chase goes wrong…
Because they don’t want to spend the money on police-spec vehicles.
Garda vehicles, with a small number of specialist exceptions, are basically family saloon-cars dickied up with colours and lights and signs. They are not designed for anything other than normal driving purposes. And that is exactly how the Garda should drive them. Shatter is disingenuous with his spoofery. Then again, he has a top-of-the-range expensive vehicle and personal driver! Why should he care what the small people have to put up with? Ah, well. I supose we will have to ‘eat cake’ when the bread and butter runs out!! Got a guillotine, anyone?
A lame attempt by the Dept of Justice to placate the Garda rank and file – supply them with just enough crappy family saloon cars to replace the scrap being withdrawn from service.
I’d like to see Subaru impreza STIs with Garda livery driving around – the criminals would think again before taking the cops on high speed pursuits.
I personally know a Garda in the traffic corps and he has told me that lame spec cars are one of the biggest complaints among the ranks.
Not much of a price difference between a bog standard Ford Mondeo and a Subaru STI either !
The motorway cops in parts of Northern Italy are provided with the Impreza as standard……
Looks as though the Ford and Hyundai dealerships have some “pull” with whomever controls the fleet purchasing in the Dept.
Like anything,you can have all the new tacticool gear,but NO IDEA on how to use it properly.
It starts with training..And AGS driving training is somplace back in the 1920s when the “Squad car” could do the dangerous top speed of 50mph.Plenty of speed to catch Paddy on the ass and cart or whatever..
Simple fact is there is NO fast pursuit,evasive and defensive driving provided for AGS. You need a skid pan,a driving track and a bunch of old bangers equipped with roll cages and proper qualified instructors in fast pursuit driving.All costs money that could be of course better spent on wage increases for top brass or pension funds.
.Maybe the “elite ERU Ninjas” get somthing somplace,but they are not the first responders to a traffic stop or pursuit.Not to mind it is an absolute JOKE on how long it takes to become a normal qualified Garda driver.Three years or somthing like that driving around the Phoenix park
So the chances of AGS getting anything more powerful than a glorified family saloon is not going to happen.
And you can use the extra power where exactly in Ireland? In the UK, the cops let dangerous drivers go as it is safer for Joe public. If they really want to catch them then they have stingers and yards helicopters, road blocks etc.
Nonsense, mostly
Should the Irish government not be making an effort to support European manufacturers over American and Korean? As a part of the EU we should be supporting our own over imported brands.
Deloreans for all!
you mean like when Greece bought some useless submarines off Germany and Germany put a gun to their heads to make them pay…sure!
Useless submarines, did they not sink?
Agreed – a fleet of S Class Mercedes would look really well.
lol,
no they just floated, like they were like……..ships.
On mature reflection I believe that BMW made an offer to Government some years ago and the idea was spurned. Putting that thought aside I am sure that the makes and models of cars purchased for the Gardai are determined in the Phoenix Park rather than the Department of Justice.
Could you imagine the righteous indignation from Sinn Fein if the Gards got BMWs? Mary Lou’s head would explode!
If you get a deal on BMW’s that’s all fine and good, but what happens when one is wrecked in a high-speed chase and needs to be replaced? BMW of course can do discount deals on bulk-buys but replacing batches will add up to a lot of money.
It couldn’t be any worse than shipping an individual replacement from Korea. The focus here does seem to be on BMW, there is also VW, Skoda, Alfa Romeo, Renault and others. I think we should go French just for the cool sounding sirens.
There’s a big difference though between purchasing a replacement budget car (as a single replacement would likely be bought from a dealer and repurposed over imported to order) and purchasing a replacement luxury car.
I agree though, plenty of alternative European manufacturers to look at. The Dutch are only just after replacing a good portion of their older Volkswagen fleet with brand new Volkswagens so someone has faith in their abilities.
Crocodylus…
Don’t give them ideas please.
Have to this day never been caught in my Golf 32r.
It’s called an R32 NOT a 32R. Fool.
I disagree with the original poster, if they bought some American 6.2 litre Dodge Charger Police Package vehicles, you wouldn’t have many criminals outrunning the cops. Petrol for the Dodge’s would be an issue though haha.
@croco, french cant build cars, the should stick to canvas, paintbrushes, and wine.
Don’t forget that we have bends on our roads. Dodge charger and bends! Nah!
God you’re mean Peter
They had a great machine here once.The 4litre Jeep Cherokee.Cheap as chips to modify,fast,light and had 4wd as well.They got rid of it as it was too scary for the non trained in high speed pursuit AGS to drive.Reckon the place would look like somthing out of an episode of the Dukes of Hazzard with all the wrecked AGS dodge chargers stuck in walls,ditches and wherever else where our lot lost control of them.
The thing many people might not know is the govt do not have to pay any vrt on vehicles they pay for so a mondeo or equivalent is only going to be 12-14k per car but we all pay 21 to 24k.
And with regards the bmw they DID get the tender but the govt thought the guards shouldn’t drive around in such fancy cars
Is that you Wirrie? Got a wisdom tooth pulled today so in a bit of a mood.
Ah harooo,
The funny thing was that the BMW tender was the CHEAPEST! They made the best offer, but it wasn’t picked because of what people might think of Gardai driving what is seen as a luxury car… Dopes!
AND their tender undercut all others ie Toyota Ford etc but as mentioned above the pen pushers didn’t think it would ‘look right’!!!
Department of Justice – Shatter – holds the purse-strings very tightly indeed!
Why not go for the VAG range VW, Audi, Skoda provides low cost community vehicles, large area patrol, fast traffic/pursuit, vans and 4 wheel drive, many parts fit all makes of the group.
You could say the same for ford/mazda/volvo
Steve Tracey for MInister for Justice!!! Yahoo!! Once he brings the vehicles along with him!!
I used to own one a them transit connects, can’t believe some idiot somewhere ok’d them for use as garda cars, they are seriously underpowered, your takin a 3second delay after every gear change to get any kind of acceleration out a the thing, ya have to rev the bag out of it to keep up with fast flowin traffic, once there’s any kind of mileage on m they burn as much oil as diesel (which it’s also very heavy on!!) I’m pretty sure almost any car out there could out run m with ease let alone the powerful cars and bike’s that are the choice of criminal gangs. I always thought supplying them with family saloons was a bad idea but this is a joke
This is what happens when a pen pusher in an office make cost cutting decisions! Absolute joke. They can’t chase criminals in an shitbox.
Probably buying more Transit connects..same as locally.
Still be handy for the guards to moonlight moving furniture.
and move beer and spirits.
Anyone working in transport would know that manufacturers do deals on vehicles including maintenance etc,All that is required is someone who actually knows about fleet management and who can get a good SLA from the manufacturer or distributer.
But this being good aul Ireland someone who hasn’t a clue will more than likely just pay the going rate or over without looking for a good discount.
Dave, not just transport anything else if talking bulk buyers, all that is needed us a trained, experienced purchasing officer.
Very true steve about having someone competent in purchasing skills in getting the right deal,My aul lad works in the public sector and he told me that someone high up the ladder.
went ahead and purchased equipment without consultation with the people who would actually use it 500k was spent on something not fit for purpose.
As there is a professional, civilian fleet manager employed by An Garda Síochána, you could be sailing close to the wind of a defamation suit! There is only one Fleet Manager, so he is eminently qualified- and completely identifiable as the target of your (defamatory?) comments. That is the danger of not knowing where you are talking or what you are talking about! Then again, he might just treat you as a spoofer with nothing worth suing you for! If you are lucky.
Here is an idea , lease the cars instead of having to write them off , no paint just replace plastic bumpers and sidepanels, put sirenes on the roof , surely they can get a big discount for a large carpark , no tax , no insurance just lease price and gasoline , ole…!!
plus subaru are too high maintanance ball of shite anyways
Britain use BMW and Vauxhall, European manufacturers, I don’t see why we can’t do the same, Seat, Opel, Renault. These are affordable and probably cost less to ship than Ford’s and Hyundai (America and Korea).
Maybe because European cars aren’t up to the same standards?
While I would say that French manufacturers certainly aren’t up to the standards, I wouldn’t say that Opel isn’t. Or why not Volkswagen? Both would be in a similar price range to the Hyundia and Ford alternatives and the money would be kept within the EU.
Eric, the Ford’s (and probably the Hyundai’s) aren’t being shipped in from other continents, the Mondeo is made in Europe. All the Fords the cops use were built on the European continent (Transit Connects are built in turkey)
I wouldn’t be too fast to say that Britain use all BMW’s and Vauxhalls, it varies by force. The Met are currently stocking up on Hyundai’s as their panda (normal patrol) cars, BMW’s are usually only used as area, armed response and traffic cars. There’s even one force I know of using Proton cars.
@we differ, euro and jap cars are the best built motors in the world.. forget about american cars… a waste of good metal.
They should ask Ford to provide a rhd version of the police interceptor used in the states
http://www.ford.com/fordpoliceinterceptor/
We couldn’t afford the petrol, huge engines in those
2ltr or 3ltr not that big.
Wha???t Buy off the fascist,imperalistic war mongering spying torturing and being nasty to puppies and small furry things YANKS??? PTOOO!!! We Irish of Journal.ie commentary and trendy Lefities and disillusioned students with chips on shoulders SPIT big green gobbers in your general direction Sir!
NO! Lets buy those nice all eco friendly Renault electric cars or nice Toyota Prius’es.After all we must understand why the criminals are fleeing us and we do want to just resolve their issues with society dont we??
Seriously,if this electric car wants to prove itself.Lets see an electric police car.
the car on the left is the new mondeo believe it or not i think it’s called the saturn in the states
The new Mondeo is called the Fusion in the US. Lovely looking car…
I was in England few years back living with my half brother who happened to be a car nut and very good driver….. as young guys out for a spin we broke a few red lights and crossed a few white lines to which we got a flash of blues behind us as we speed along……so my brother turns and asks what’s behind us as I was new to there woods his mate said a porsche so he pulled over knowing out running that in a xr3i was pointless. Moral to this is give our police the right cars for the job with the right training and see how many half cocked speed freaks pull over the minute they see 911s, m5s,R6s,R8s and wrxs behind them….. guessing a good 95%.
This is Ireland not Monaco.
So no high powered cars get stolen,no cash in transit robbing happening here, no shootings happening with high powered get away cars/bikes here…. wake up f1 fan.
Or Dubai,going by the price list of those cars.Is it the Dubai Pd that has a Bugatti Veryon for pursuit?
Would love to see somone trying to shove two peed off ready for action gurriers into the back seat of a 911 plus a extra garda in the back seat to control them,and then drive your prisioners to the nearest cop shop and holding cell..
there is the porsche panamera its a 4 door could shove the scrotes in there
Why not just get a Cayenne then??Snip at 90 grand.
Scrap luxury government cars and buy the Gardai decent vehicles instead!
I hope they didn’t buy too many Skoda’s. They’ll never get through the volume of people tryin to flag down a taxi!
I spoke with someone recently who had a break in while they were home and locked themselves into the bathroom while the cops said “we’ll have to get a car out from the city”.
I hope he took this up with Captain Shatter.
She…. I hope so too.
What are Hyundai going to provide? Replacements for transits perhaps?
i40 Estates apparently.
Ford connects all round.
Do you really want the Gardai driving around in hi spec cars when most don’t have advanced training, they get the ‘chiefs’ pardon which allows then to drive squad cars until they get their training
They should be driving around in fiesta diesels. They only need cars for transport. I don’t want the gardai involved in high speed pursuits because I have my family to think of. If these high speed pursuits are such an issue use helicopters. Driving around in high powered cars at high speed in supposed to be frowned on. The high speed chases have ended in innocent people being killed in the UK with the public calling for an end to them.
What a poorly researched and ill informed comment.
What a vague response.
It says all it needs to about your comment and now also your response.
Very hard to pull someone over while you’re flying a helicopter Mj
You want the gardai driving around at 180kph in high powered cars to stop cars travelling at the same speed. Now there’s a recipe for disaster. Helicopters are very successful in high speed pursuits here in the UK as they lead the individuals driving at the speeds into a false sense of security & catch them when their stopped. If you think helicopters can’t pull over vehicles on the road you should watch tv. They even use them for catching people on their phones here.
@mjhint. Persuits are avoided at all costs however gardai are often required to attend calls asap. Not going to happen in a diesel focus or transit connect. Those only with specialised driving course completed are allowed drive above speed limit/use warning lights-sirens.
Alan am I correct in saying that the gardai have a speed limit in high speed driving as has been recently introduced in the UK. If a member of the gardai is driving on the poor roads we have in rural Ireland the difference between a ford & a Subaru impreza will be less than 5 minutes & possibly a lot quicker if the Subaru goes off the road. Also I know about these high speed courses they do & there is very little in them to assist high speed driving. One of these courses & training exercises ended in the death of a woman in her own car in Birmingham a number of years ago & the report that followed showed that these types of police training courses & pursuits are very often unnecessary with the introduction of air support & this type of training has been rowed back here. You cannot train someone to drive at high speed & most road cars are not designed to be driven on ordinary roads including high performance road cars a very high speed. The minute something goes wrong you are a passenger.
Im sure helicopters are successful in pursing vehicles, but I think there is onlyone garda helicopter for the whole country. Compare the cost of buying and fueling a helicopter against the cost and general everyday use of cars there us only going to be one winner
@mjhint. Garda specialised drivers will only drive at a speed their comfortable with taking into account how powerful the patrol car is, road conditions and type, weather conditions, road and foot traffic etc. Safety is always the number one priority
@mjhint. So other than a garda fleet of helicopters what do you suggest? The nature of the work always has and always will bring with it dangers to the public and those who serve as police officers.
I believe Common sense is the speed limit that a course would say. And 5 mins is a very long time if your waiting for the guards to come help you. So if this 5 mins can be cancelled out by a better car going to help people, I say get a better car
Wow! One fatality and lets wipe out the needed training tool in fast pursuit driving…Brilliant logic there.
Have you ever done one of these courses as you claim to know all about them??
So tell us,why then does every other police force in the world teach their police officers fast pursuit driving and still have air support??Proably because they have proper training and budgets and belive their people should have the best equipment and support if they are putting their lifes on the line.
Here we belive everyting third rate is good enough for anyone especially our services.
I saw two in the air last week, flying fairly close together at low speed, obviously looking for bad guys in the bushes.
i taught toyota got contract couple year ago heard that off a gaurd him self
They’re not doing too bad, doesn’t Parker realise the country is broke.
Don’t you realise that a Guard who can’t reach a crime scene is no use to anyone? We’re paying BILLIONS in banking debt, what is the issue in providing a few millions to ensure the Guards have enough patrol cars for the short and mid-term future? It’s pocket change in comparison.
The Gardai don’t want to reach the crime scene. Lads, whose turn is it to put the kettle on.
How would you know…………….. unless you were AT the crime scene……………??????
Let’s be honest , the only reason we get fords and Hyundai is because some big wig chief makes a decision on cars that he never even drives . It’s about the best deal they can buy in bulk , not the best car we can get for the money !!
They should buy Ferraris , Lamborghinis and Porsches like what the Dubai police have
have your say