Some €3 million is to be spent on upgrading the Garda transport fleet.
The money will be used to buy 170 patrol cars, unmarked cars and vans. The vehicles are being supplied by Ford Ireland.
It brings to 212 the number of new vehicles provided to An Garda Síochána this year.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said the order amounted to a substantial investment at a time of severe budgetary constraints.
He said it would enhance the capacity of the Garda to provide an “effective and efficient policing service to communities throughout the country”.
Garda Representative Association president John Parker said the investment was welcome but it only amounted to a third of the vehicles needed to replace those that would be off the road by the end of the year.
All Garda vehicles have to be replaced when they have clocked up 300,000km.
The GRA estimates that a fifth of the Garda fleet, amounting to 500 vehicles, will need to be replaced by the end of the year.
