THE MINISTER for Justice has defended the cuts to the budget of the Equality Authority, emphasising his priority in fighting crime.
A spokesman for Dermot Ahern said: "These are very tough times and the Minister makes no apologies for implementing funding reductions in order to maintain frontline Garda services targeted against crime and in particular gangland criminals.
"As it is, the Minister has had to axe €20 million from the Garda overtime budget next year, so cuts to the authority have to be seen against that backdrop. The Equality Authority and its former chief executive are due to decentralise to Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Once that decentralisation takes place, there will be major savings made in terms of property rental."
The statement continued: "It is not rocket science to understand that rents in Tipperary are vastly less than those in central Dublin.
"Irish Aid has successfully decentralised to Limerick where it handles a €900 million budget fighting famine and poverty across the world but some in the authority would have the Government believe that they would not be able to operate a €4 million budget from Roscrea dealing with the 26 counties.
"The Minister would prefer not to have to make funding cuts but we are faced with new circumstances. We all need to get on with the job."
Meanwhile, Green TD Ciarán Cuffe said he had written to the Minister expressing his concern at the extent of the cuts to the Equality Authority's budget and his concern that it remain a viable entity.
Mr Cuffe said the Green Party in government had been working behind the scenes to ensure the authority could continue its work and was not completely absorbed into the Department of Justice.
"These are unprecedented and extremely difficult times in Ireland and everyone has to participate in meeting the huge economic challenges ahead, but equality cannot be seen as a luxury with which we dispense when funds are low. "It all the more worrying when we consider that Mr Crowley was prepared to live with a one-third cut in his budget - yet the Department of Justice apparently insisted that the authority had to take a cut of 43 per cent.
"All of this is compounded by the department's insistence that, despite cutbacks, the Equality Authority cannot postpone moving offices from Dublin to Roscrea. Mr Crowley has warned that this move will risk losing experienced and skilled staff."
Mr Cuffe added: "I will also be discussing this with my party colleagues and urging them to continue efforts to have this situation remedied."