The most eye-catching item in the justice allocation for next year is the speed at which Garda recruitment is to unfold.
The first class of Garda recruits for five years entered the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary, just last month.
That 100-strong intake will now be followed by another class of the same size before the end of the year and a third group of 100 men and women will begin their training in January.
News of the intakes leaked in the days before yesterday’s budget but before that, nobody envisaged another intake by year end.
The Government’s decision to press ahead with a third wave of recruitment so soon in the new year will have taken even the most optimistic observers by surprise.
The €10 million set aside for new Garda vehicles is also welcome. New vehicles are especially important to those communities across the State that have seen their local Garda stations closed, leaving them completely dependent on patrols.
However,there has been a long delay in the past between the provision of funding for vehicles and their launch into service. The kitting out of patrol cars has been especially slow because of the shortage in personnel skilled in that work.
The Government and senior Garda management will need to carefully manage the expenditure of the money provided for vehicles if it is to translate into a real Garda presence on the roads as quickly as possible.
That the additional boots on the beat and cars on the streets are needed is not in doubt. Garda numbers have fallen to 12,900, just below the 13,000 level former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan said he would not like to see breached. With Garda retirements running at between 200 and 300 annually, the intakes planned to the end of January would need to be repeated later next year to even maintain manpower at current levels.
During the summer, chief inspector of the Garda Inspectorate Bob Olson described the ageing fleet as a “financial time bomb just ticking away”. He noted cars were being switched from rural to urban areas to maximise mileage. While this was “smart”, it meant a huge number of vehicles would eventually have to be taken out of service at the same time.
The fact the investment in Garda numbers and vehicles is only coming at a time when both are at crisis levels does should not detract from what are very positive developments for the force.
Missing from yesterday’s budget was any allocation for Garda overtime, which the force has been crying out for as gun and drug crimes begin to nudge higher as the illicit drugs economy recovers in line with disposable incomes. Providing that funding is vital to the Garda’s ability to respond.
