The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, some €27 million over the next seven years to fight racism and inequality in Irish society.
The funding is part of the €2.8 billion package of funding for Justice and Equality programmes the Minister announced today as part of the National Development Plan.
The new funding will be invested on social inclusion measures under the National Action Plan against Racism (NPAR) and the Programme for Social and Economic Advancement of Members of the Traveller Community.
A further €36.25 million is to be invested on the integration of migrants programme, which supports initiatives designed to promote the integration of legal immigrants, while some €68 million is to be invested in the gender equality programme. This will examine measures needed to improve equality between men and women, and also focuses on tackling educational and social barriers that may hinder women from entering and progressing within the workforce.
Under the new national Development Plan , which covers 2007 to 2013, the majority of the money - €1.23 billion - will go to the Irish Prisons Service to help with capital infrastructural development and detention facilities.
Plans are currently ongoing to replace four prisons on the Mountjoy Campus, while a new prison complex for Munster is being proposed to replace Cork Prison and Spike Island. The funding will also help redevelop youth justice detention facilities to meet the statutory requirements of the Children Act 2001.
Meanwhile, €300 million is to be spent to help provide prison rehabilitation programmes, with €26.5 million to be spent on programmes for reintegrating offenders.
An Garda Síochána is getting a €352 million windfall for new stations, and to develop its ICT infrastructure and a new forensic science lab. A further €14 million is to be invested in local policing fora.
"These measures will not only assist in the State's development of its overall crime prevention response but will also act as a practical means of supporting the capacity of local communities to meaningfully participate in crime prevention, which is a key feature of the Government's strategy for social policy development," said Mr McDowell.
Some €21 million is being allocated to support information and awareness campaigns on domestic violence, while more than €16 million will go to supporting projects focusing on improved accessibility to services, such as technology development.
"The delivery of the Department'sbroad remit and its effective application of an annual spend of over €2 billion strongly support the implementation of the National Development Plan which aims to increase the capacity of Ireland's economy to maintain strong and sustainable growth in output and employment," Mr McDowell said.
"My Department's involvement in the National Development Plan 2007-2013 reflects these social inclusion issues as well as ongoing changes in Irish society and the strategies adopted by Government to meet those challenges."