Justice 2010

Ahern Pledges Tackling Crime Remains Top Priority

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Dermot Ahern T.D., is satisfied that the budgetary allocation for the Justice Group gives him the scope in 2010 to continue to prioritise resources in dealing with crime.

While acknowledging the difficult economic backdrop to the framing of the estimates, the Minister is satisfied that the gross budget of €2.45bn available to the Justice Sector in 2010 will ensure that fighting crime continues to be a top priority. This budget is made up of the following: €430.3m is in respect of the Justice Vote and its associated bodies; €1,479m is for An Garda Síochána; €352.3m is for Prisons; €147m is for Courts and €39m for the Property Registration Authority.

The budget for pay and pensions represents 72% of the entire Justice Sector allocation in 2010. The Minister is pleased that despite the increased Garda retirements in 2009, the Garda Force will number approximately 14,500 members at the end of this year, compared with 13,755 at the end of 2007.

Outside of the pay and pensions budget the Minister has secured €679m for programme expenditure across the Justice Sector - an increase of €16m over the 2009 allocation.

First call on this budget will be priority services in the fight against crime.

Justice Vote 

€4.1m has been provided for the development of a DNA Database in the Forensic Science Laboratory and €4.5m in respect of the construction of a new State Pathologist Laboratory in a joint venture with Dublin City Council. This latter project has now proceeded to tender.

The Minister also indicated that he will be publishing the ground-breaking DNA Database legislation in the coming weeks. This legislation, together with a new state of the art Forensic Science Laboratory and DNA Database to be situated at the State Laboratory Campus in Backweston, will amount to a major upgrading of the State's technical capacity to fight all forms of crime.

The budget for the Criminal Assets Bureau has been maintained at over €8.6m - at a time of scarce and shrinking resources. The high level resourcing of CAB is a clear indication of the Government's unremitting intolerance of organised crime.

A total of €53m has been provided for the Irish Youth Service an increase of 19% on 2009 expenditure levels. This will enable the Service to proceed with the construction of a new Juvenile Detention Facility at the Oberstown Campus, Lusk, Co. Dublin.

Criminal Legal Aid 

As part of a cost containment package the Minister also today announced a number of measures designed to target the escalating cost of Criminal Legal Aid which has risen from €25m in 2000 to nearly €55m in 2008. A key feature of this package will be a pilot test procurement exercise to establish whether criminal legal aid could be provided by the legal profession in a more cost-effective and predictable manner.

The Minister said: "This pilot is being designed to establish if solicitors are prepared to commit to providing legal aid in a manner that can generate blocks of work for them and produce savings for the State. This is a complex issue and people's constitutional rights must be upheld and, against that backdrop, my officials are working on options for a market based approach for the provision of criminal legal aid with a view to reducing costs."

Legal changes are also being drafted to strengthen the existing Act which dates from 1962. The proposals include the introduction of compulsory means testing in cases where the prosecution object to legal aid and a power to require people with some means to make a contribution towards funding their defence. Expenditure on Criminal Legal Aid in the current year is likely to total around €60m, an increase of approximately 9% over 2008, despite a cut of 8% in professional fees.  

Garda Vote

The budget for An Garda Síochána in 2010 includes funding for:

- the continued roll-out of the National Digital Radio system outside the Dublin area in 2010.

- the contract for the provision of road safety cameras was signed recently. The cost of this service will be funded from the Garda Vote and will be offset by whatever revenue is generated from the project. The Minister reiterated: "The cameras are being introduced not to raise revenue but to stop our citizens being killed on our roads. I would expect that the network of safety cameras will be substantially rolled out by the middle of next year".

- up to €54m for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and related equipment and services. This funding will ensure that the major Garda ICT systems will continue to be supported and upgraded as well as making provision for the development of new systems in support of the fight against crime.

Prisons Vote 

Notwithstanding the significant capital investment in recent years, over €29m is provided for further capital works in 2010 including an extension to the Midlands Prison. In the region of 180 prison spaces will come on-stream in 2010. Significantly, funding is also in place to enable the construction of a dedicated access route for the new Thornton Prison complex. It is also anticipated that work may start late next year on the construction of the security and perimeter wall of the complex.

Courts Vote 

The Courts Vote shows an increased allocation in 2010 primarily due to the fact that there is a once-off capital payment of €21m and annual repayments of a further €21m in respect of the new Criminal Courts Complex in Parkgate Street.

The Criminal Courts of Justice is the single largest courthouse project since the foundation of the State.

Property Registration Authority 

The funding in 2010 will allow the Authority to complete the Digital Mapping project by the autumn of next year. As a result of the investment in recent years 20 counties are now fully digitised.

9 December 2009