McDowell pledges €146m extra funds for gardaí

The Minister for Justice says an additional €146 million in funding will be given to An Garda Síochána next year.

The Minister for Justice says an additional €146 million in funding will be given to An Garda Síochána next year.

At the publication of the estimates for spending, Michael McDowell said that €1.29 billion would be spent on anti-crime measures, an increase of 13 per cent compared with 2005.

Mr McDowell said provision was being made for 2.725 million hours of overtime by gardaí by allocating €83.5 million to this area, a rise of €23 million on the budget for this year.

He also said that Operation Anvil would remain in place for as long as gardaí deemed it necessary, and that it would be extended outside Dublin.

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The Minister earmarked more than €12.9 million for Garda communications equipment, increasing the total spend in this area by more than €2.5 million compared with 2005.

To advance the purchase of a fleet of high powered vehicles, more than €3.8 million extra has been allocated to the Garda transport budget, bringing the total spend in this area to €22.9 million.

The Garda accountability framework, provided for in the Garda Act 2005, will be provided with €11.9 million in set-up costs.

An extra €15 million is to be provided for immigration and asylum services, bringing the total spend in 2006 to €140 million.

David Labanyi

David Labanyi

David Labanyi is the Head of Audience with The Irish Times