Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for making time available today to consider my request for Supplementary Estimates for An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service and the Courts Service.

A number of factors give rise to the Supplementary Estimates which can be broadly summarised as follows: additional requirements relating to Garda and prisons payroll costs; implementation of a capital investment announcement on budget day relating to Garda transport and information and communications technology, ICT; technical adjustments to utilise savings in certain areas, including surplus receipts, to offset additional expenditure requirements, thus making maximum benefit of the resources available to the justice Vote group. While there are substantial additional requirements in respect of the Votes for An Garda Síochána and the Irish Prison Service of €75.24 million and €9.25 million, respectively, they are being offset in part by savings elsewhere within the justice Vote of approximately €24.7 million. Thus, in real terms, the external funding requirement is under €60 million.

The Vote for the Department of Justice and Equality is contributing at least €22.3 million to offset the cost of the Supplementary Estimates and there are savings of approximately €1 million in the Vote for the Property Registration Authority. The Supplementary Estimate in respect of the Vote for the Courts Service is self-funding in that savings, including surplus receipts income, are being utilised to offset expenditure requirements in other areas of the Vote. After allowing for the various adjustments, it is expected that the Vote for the Courts Service will have a surrender balance of approximately €1.4 million.

It is not uncommon, given the fact that the justice sector Vote is made up of five Votes, that there is a need to adjust budgets across the group as part of the Supplementary Estimates process. This is particularly the case prior to year end to ensure maximum value is derived from any funding which becomes available. The largest individual element of the Supplementary Estimate for the Vote for An Garda Síochána relates to the payroll subhead where there is an additional requirement of €65 million.

It was brought to my attention shortly after I was appointed Minister for Justice and Equality that there would likely be a substantial shortfall in the Garda pay subhead in 2014. I made this one of the priority issues to be addressed in the recent Estimates and I am pleased that €40 million in additional funding is being provided in the Garda pay subhead in 2015. This addresses the shortfall in the subhead and also allows for the recommencement of Garda recruitment, with an initial 100 recruits having started their training in Templemore in September. I am pleased to confirm that another group of 100 recruits will commence training in early December and be joined by a further 100 recruits early in the new year. These are the first Garda recruits to enter the college since 2009 and these new gardaí are needed to contribute to the revitalisation of An Garda Síochána.

The Supplementary Estimates process is also the mechanism we use to deal with the capital investment announced on budget day. In total, €10 million is being provided and this funding is reflected in the ICT and transport subheads. An additional €7 million is being assigned to the capital element of the transport subhead as part of this Supplementary Estimate and a further €3 million will be available for the subhead in 2015. This will result in the procurement and fit-out of over 400 new vehicles for the Garda fleet. Deputies will be aware of vehicles coming on stream from previous funding and more will come on stream in early 2015.

The ICT investment of €3 million in 2014 will allow for a much needed information systems upgrade which will provide an essential platform for further systems development. Obviously, I will not go into detail in that regard, but clearly it is a major issue for An Garda Síochána to have the appropriate technology; therefore, we must invest to bring the technology up to date.

There are various other overspends and underspends across the Garda Vote which are being streamlined through the Supplementary Estimates process before the end of the financial year. There are surplus appropriations-in-aid receipts of almost €22.7 million, a proportion of which relate to various pension deductions which are directly related to payroll expenditure. Similar to recent years, certain receipts of almost €17 million from fixed charge notices are being used as part of a technical accounting exercise to offset the cost of road traffic measures, mainly relating to the cost of the Go Safe road safety contract.

It is clear from the Supplementary Estimate and the recently published Estimates for 2015 that the Government will continue to provide the necessary financial resources for An Garda Síochána. It is also clear, as we have discussed a great deal at this committee and in the Dáil, that there is a need for ongoing reform, to which I reiterate my commitment. We have seen this in the recent Garda Inspectorate's report; we will also receive the Haddington agreement report early in the new year. Obviously, the policing authority will be part and parcel of the new reforms.

I take the opportunity to wish Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan all the very best in her appointment as Garda Commissioner. She has a tough task ahead of her and a clear blueprint from the Garda Inspectorate to do her work.

A Supplementary Estimate of €9.25 million is required for the Irish Prison Service in 2014. The major components are: an additional payroll requirement of €7 million; an additional requirement of €3.220 million in the buildings subhead; an overrun of €1 million in the compensation subhead. There are offsetting savings of over €1 million in the administrative non-pay subheads, including €900,000 in ICT capital, €400,000 in the prisoner services subhead and appropriations-in-aid of €400,000. The net outcome is an additional requirement of €9.250 million in 2014 which has resulted from a number of budgetary pressures, including the full year cost of prison administration and support officers, PASOs, a number of recruit prison officers progressing to the prison officer pay scale in 2014 and the appointment of work training officers. There were additional recruits in the course of the year that have led to these extra costs. There were reductions made also in terms of the employment control framework, on which I can go into detail during the course of the discussion on the Vote for the Irish Prison Service.

There is an increased capital allocation of €900,000 in the prison building subhead in 2014. This is offset by corresponding capital savings relating to ICT of €900,000. Work is progressing well on Cork Prison and expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2015. The modernisation project in Mountjoy Prison is also on schedule, with an expected completion date for the works on D-wing which includes in-cell sanitation expected to be completed by mid-2015. The committee supported this project previously. It is extremely important that we modernise prison buildings and there is further work to be done, but the progress has been extremely good in Mountjoy Prison and Cork Prison. There is also some development work ongoing at Wheatfield.

The main reason for the Supplementary Estimate requirement in respect of non-payroll expenditure relates to an additional requirement of €2.3 million for current expenditure in the buildings subhead and is accounted for by essential works on heating and boiler systems across a number of prisons and the increasing cost of utility charges. They were very old systems on which work had to be done.

The Supplementary Estimate for the Courts Service of €1,000 is of a technical nature in order to meet additional costs in some subheads by savings in other areas, including surplus appropriations-in-aid. The increased cost of the annual repayment relating to the Criminal Courts of Justice complex, due to indexation, is €700,000. Deputies will be familiar with the new building. There are additional ICT capital expenditure costs of €400,000 following offset by savings in other capital subheads. While there are some overspends and underspends in the administrative subheads which are offsetting each other through the Supplementary Estimates process, the main source of funding to meet the additional requirement is surplus receipts in appropriations-in-aid. This surplus has arisen, in the main part, from a greater than expected intake of court fees, primarily relating to the Circuit Court and the High Court, both of which have benefited from the introduction of new fee orders in January 2014. They have been used to offset costs within the Vote for the Courts Service, but it is also expected that the Courts Service will have a surrender balance of approximately €1.4 million which will offset the additional costs in the Votes for the Garda and the Irish Prison Service.

I am pleased that the Court of Appeal sat for the first time earlier this month following its establishment. It is probably the most radical reform in the history of the Courts Service. I thank everybody involved in ensuring it was established in such a timely way after the referendum was passed.

There are many factors and issues that impact on the justice group of Votes and it is essential to have flexibility approaching year-end to offset additional costs in one area against savings in another. Even allowing for the offset of additional costs against savings, it is necessary in the current year to provide additional funding for the Votes for An Garda Síochána and the Irish Prison Service. I recommend the Supplementary Estimates for the Votes for An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service and the Courts Service to the committee. I will be happy to hear comments and take questions.