The Gardaí will be receiving an early Christmas present this year as 170 new vehicles are set to enter the force from December.
Justice Minister Alan Shatter has announced that €3m will be spent on brand spanking new garda cars for the force. These will include mostly patrol cars, but there will also be a few unmarked cars and a handful of new vans. In fairness, it’s about bloody time.
You may remember the story of a woman who was forced to pick up an officer after her home was burgled because the garda in question didn’t have a car available to him at the time? It was a shambles that was blamed on ‘budgetary constraints’.
Speaking about the new fleet Minister Alan Shatter said, “In this context, I am conscious of the need to support An Garda Siochana to the greatest extent possible.
“I am certain that the delivery and commissioning of 170 new vehicles will enhance the capacity of An Garda Siochana to provide an effective and efficient policing service to the communities throughout the country.”
The move couldn’t come at a better time seeing as a lot of the vehicles in the current fleet are edging close to the 300,000km limit. While the gardaí claim they’re close to a resource crisis, at least they’ll be able to moan about it in their shiny new Ford Mondeos.
