More than €8m spent on Garda air units over past 6 years

More than €8m has been spent on the Garda air units over the past 6 years.

In excess of €1m a year is spent maintaining the two Garda helicopters.

Sean Defoe reports that the figures show an almost €8.5m spend on maintaining the garda helicopters between 2011 and October last year.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show a €1.2m spend in 10 months last year.

The helicopters may be used in a variety of operations, including policing of state events and monitoring gangland crime in 2016.

In 2015 they were also used to catch a criminal gang stealing ESB power lines.

The air units are based in Baldonnel on the outskirts of Dublin city and are deployed during incidents where there is a threat to life, or serious criminal and terrorist incidents.

Gardaí say they're also used for evidence gathering and photographic tasks.