I welcome the announcement made by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, that €5.3 million is to be spent on 260 new Garda vehicles between now and the end of the year. These vehicles will be used to assist the Garda in the pursuit of mobile gangs using high-powered vehicles. These 260 vehicles will be added to the 370 vehicles already brought into operation so far this year. They will be used to tackle the scourge of highly mobile criminal gangs which are committing crimes throughout County Louth and across the country. The Minister has allocated €5.3 million to provide the Garda with additional high-powered vehicles, marked and unmarked patrol cars, cars for surveillance, motorcycles for high-visibility policing and other vehicles for policing public order offences. This investment will support the Garda in having more visible and responsive patrols on motorways and in rural communities. The extra vehicles will give it the resources it needs to increase surveillance of criminal gangs and enhance night-time policing of public order offences. The Government will have invested more than €34 million in new Garda vehicles since 2012.

And no one is driving.

This is a massive increase - one eight - on the €4.8 million provided by the previous Government between 2009 and 2011.

Outrageous.

In July the Minister published the general scheme of a new bail Bill to strengthen the law and get tougher on serious and repeat offenders while out on bail. The new law will result in a clampdown on repeat burglars and support gardaí who work extremely hard to catch repeat offenders.

If you could bear with me, a Chathaoirligh-----

The Senator is well over the limit.

-----I wish to welcome and acknowledge the announcement of the deployment of 27 additional gardaí to Dundalk Garda station. I hope the decision will make a difference to policing along the Border in north Louth and south Armagh. I commend Commissioner O'Sullivan for taking this initiative soon after the murder of Garda Tony Golden in Omeath just ten days ago and the death of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe in January 2013. I am deeply concerned at the dastardly crimes that have been committed, as is my colleague, Senator Jim D'Arcy.