Family cars ‘not fit’ for police work

GARDAÍ are placing themselves at risk by having to use family cars which are not suitable as police vehicles, the AGSI conference heard yesterday.

Seamus Burke of the Louth branch told delegates that Garda cars should have to undergo an annual NCT test, as taxis do.

“Our members are required to daily undertake duties that involve using family saloon cars to masquerade as police vehicles while policing our communities.

“Simply placing a set of blue beacons and garda signs on a vehicle does not make it a patrol car any more than placing a donkey in a stable would make it a racehorse.”

He added: “Our members are supplied with Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiestas, Toyota Corollas and Ford Mondeos and expected to then police our roads placing themselves at risk because such vehicles are not fit for the job in hand.”

He said that gardaí were being told that no new vehicles would be purchased this year, placing further pressure on the existing fleet.

Mr Burke said cars were not legally required to have an NCT until their fourth year. “A garda vehicle on a regular or traffic unit car does cover upwards of 300km in a 24-hour period over three shifts. This amounts to a theoretical 109,200km annually or 436,800km before an NCT test is required.”

He said: “A taxi cab must undergo an annual NCT test. Surely our fleet is no safer and covers no less mileage annually?”

In a separate motion, John Byrne of the Tipperary branch described as “absolutely ridiculous” the way new Garda divisional boundaries had been set up.

He said in many cases garda districts had been doubled in size, which members having to drive up to 90km. He said one new district stretched from Portumna, Co Galway to the edge of Limerick city.

“We can’t do it with the resources we have. It needs huge investment in manpower and accommodation.”

He said no budgets had been allocated for the task and that it was being done “on the cheap”.