Garda Síochána: The continued expansion of An Garda Síochána and the fight against serious gangland crime are at the top of the agenda for the Department of Justice, according to the 2007 spending plans revealed in the Estimates.
With the Government's record on crime expected to be one of the key battlegrounds in next year's general election campaign, the Garda vote was always expected to be increased for the year.
The figures for the Justice vote did not disappoint with overall spending set to rise by €181 million to €2.4 billion. Of that, the Garda will receive €1.445 billion, up 10 per cent on last year.
However, with the force in the middle of its biggest expansion and reform programme since its foundation, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy will not find himself short of projects into which the funding will be poured.
Chief among these will be completing the process of recruiting 2,000 additional gardaí to bring the force's full strength to over 14,000 for the first time by 2008.
Next year will see 1,100 gardaí graduating from Templemore. Many of these will be deployed to the new Garda Traffic Corps, which will reach over 1,000 members next year. The recruitment of a 900-strong reserve force will also need to be funded, with €1.2 million set aside for it.
However, while all of the promised extra full-time gardaí have already started their training at the Garda College, there is less certainty about plans to recruit several thousand civilian support staff.
This measure was recommended by two Government-commissioned expert reports published last week.
Nowhere in the Estimates released yesterday is there a heading for civilianisation. Instead, Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said this programme would take time, adding whatever progress was made next year would be funded from the overall Justice vote.
Aside from plans to expand the force, Mr McDowell said the increases in Garda expenditure would also allow for the continuation of Operation Anvil, which is targeting armed criminals across the country.
He is also anxious to see gardaí tackling anti-social behaviour, which will most likely be an ongoing issue during the election campaign.
Mr McDowell has already asked Mr Conroy to devote "significant resources" to policing more than 40 Revitalising Areas by Planning Investment and Development (RAPID) across the Republic, where vandalism, intimidation and other anti-social problems have been identified.
Some €25 million will be spent on CCTV, communications equipment and road safety equipment. The Garda Ombudsman Commission will receive €10.3 million and the Garda Inspectorate €2 million.
Mr McDowell said yesterday the Garda's information technology budget was being increased by €3 million to €38.4 million. A new national digital radio system would also be rolled out and the Garda fleet upgraded.
Around 1,200 new Garda vehicles were acquired this year with similar expenditure proposed next year. The entire fleet will have been replaced in a two-year period, Mr McDowell said.
Fine Gael's spokesman on justice Jim O'Keeffe TD said despite the promises on recruitment there were 60 fewer full-time members in the force in September 2006 compared with 12 months' earlier. Labour's spokesman Brendan Howlin TD said the increased Garda spending was disappointing given increasing serious crime.
