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

I thank the Chairman.

I welcome the opportunity to present the Revised Estimates for 2017 in respect of the justice Vote group to the committee. Members will be aware that it is made up of eight different Votes, with a combined gross expenditure allocation of just over €2.72 billion in 2017. That is an increase of 3.6% on the 2016 allocation of €2.482 billion which was inclusive, at that point, of a gross Supplementary Estimate increase of €24 million. The gross expenditure Estimate for the Garda Síochána vote is €1.612 billion, which amounts to 64% of the funding for the entire Vote group. The Estimate for 2017 is further increased by the additional amount of €9.344 million, carried forward from 2016 under the capital carryover provisions. The high proportion of the resources allocated to the Garda Vote outlines our commitment to having that strong and visible presence throughout the country in order to make sure that we have community engagement and reassurance and that we deter crime.

Part of our goal at present, which is very important and has been supported by this committee, is the wish to increase the overall Garda taskforce. The commitment is to increase the number 21,000 by 2021. That comprises 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. That reflects a commitment in the programme for Government. In the Estimates going forward for this year, we have the money provided to fund 800 Garda recruits, 500 civilians - 300 of whom we have already advertised for - to support the wide-ranging reform in An Garda, and for 300 members of the Garda Reserve. There has been a review of the Garda Reserve and Deputies will probably have heard those advertisements on the radio and seen them in the newspapers for the recruitment of 300 members of the Garda Reserve.

Obviously resources alone are not enough. There are many factors. We have been discussing some in the last few days and will continue to discuss them. We want to ensure that An Garda Síochána is fit for purpose and can deal with the very serious gang-related crime, which everyone on this committee is very familiar with. We need a very comprehensive range of measures to make sure that the best response possible is available. In addition to the legislative measures, I heard this week - Deputy Jim O'Callaghan is probably familiar with this - that parts of the burglary legislation that allow for consecutive sentencing are in place now and can be used by the courts at their discretion. Extra powers to the Criminal Assets Bureau were important as well for handling the proceeds of crime. We have seen quite a bit happen in that area. The second Special Criminal Court has also been established and has been hearing cases since May.

We also have, and I think it is very obvious, the establishment of the dedicated armed support unit for the Dublin metropolitan region. That is operating on a 24-7 basis, providing appropriate armed support as required. Since its inception, the armed support unit has been involved in high-visibility patrols. I think people are well aware of that. It has been involved in checkpoints and in various other difficult hostage situations, suicide incidents, executing high-risk warrants and high-risk escorts. Over the months, it has been involved in a number of successes and has been associated with a total of 248 serious incidents in a three-month period. Those incidents include, but are not limited to, aggravated burglary, assault, possession of or discharging a firearm, false imprisonment, immigration offences, possession of drugs for sale and supply, possession of an offensive weapon and robbery from an establishment or from a person. The new armed support unit is out protecting the community. We also have the Garda special crime taskforce in the Dublin metropolitan region, under the drugs and organised crime bureau. That has been established to augment the response to organised crime at a local level through concentrated policing, and through a multi-agency approach to targeting the proceeds of crime.

The legislative measures which I have just mentioned which we put in place, targeting burglars and seizing the proceeds of crime, are equally effective in a rural context. The measures are not only for urban areas. Rural communities will also benefit from the significant injection of policing resources provided by the Government and the anti-crime drive which has been co-ordinated under Operation Thor, which is continuing. Special targeted patrols are carried out with the assistance of Garda national support services against criminals who are committing crime in regions, including a recent focus on the use of motorways by criminal gangs to disrupt them if they are trying to go into a rural area to commit crime and then get away. All of these Garda initiatives operate alongside ongoing community policing measures, including problem-solving with local communities and ongoing liaison with households in providing crime prevention advice and assistance to victims of burglary. Gardaí in local areas, as all members of this committee will be aware, and I see myself every week, are involved in working with neighbourhood groups and setting up neighbourhood watch and community alert groups throughout the country. These are important supports for a local community and I see gardaí in my own area helping local estates to set up Neighbourhood Watch groups, which I think are a very effective way of ensuring that estates are safe.

There is a capital allocation of €98 million available to the gardaí in 2017. That is underpinning expenditure on ICT, which will be in excess of €35 million and expenditure on buildings, which will be in the region of €60 million. Deputies will be familiar with the three headquarters which will all be finished this year. Those are in Kevin Street, Dublin 8, Galway and Wexford. They will be completed in the course of this year. Under the Government’s capital plan, €46 million will be invested in a modern, effective and fit for purpose Garda fleet. I am sure Deputies can see that the huge investment that has been made is obvious when they go around the country and see the various new vehicles that are being used. In the two-year period 2014 to 2016, just under €30 million has been spent on replacement and new vehicles for the Garda fleet. That has been an important investment by the Government, as well as the ICT that I mentioned, which is not going to be done overnight but for which there is a programme of action. It is the first time that we have had a committee working between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána.

There is a major issue with the interoperability of databases internationally. I met the Commissioner, Mr. Julian King recently about that. We had a very detailed discussion about the interoperability of databases and the need for Ireland to be fully up to speed on the Schengen Information System II. We are working hard on that, since we are behind other European countries. There is a new plan at European level for an even more sophisticated sharing of databases. That needs to be a priority and I have emphasised that again and again to An Garda Síochána.

I published the terms of reference for the new commission yesterday. We have had detailed discussion on that in the Dáil so I will not spend time on that. The Vote to the Policing Authority has a gross Estimate of over €2.7 million, which provides for the running costs. That will be kept under review as the authority phases up to its full staffing complement of 35. We have said that if additional resources or expertise are necessary, they will be given. The justice and equality Vote has a gross Estimate provision of just over €444 million, broken down into five separate programmes with 60 separate subheads, reflecting the Department’s strategy, but also the complexity of the Department and the wide range of areas that the Department has responsibility for. I will briefly mention the various programmes and can go into more detail if Deputies would like me to. The first is leadership in and oversight of justice and equality policy, and delivery. That includes the Garda Ombudsman Commission, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and the Charities Regulatory Authority. Deputies will be aware that the Charities Regulatory Authority is now doing what I consider really excellent work, which is going to be really important in building up confidence in the charity sector again. We know there have been very disturbing cases where charities were not operating the way they should have been. That has dented confidence in the sector. The Charities Regulatory Authority is now taking complaints from the public, investigating them, and now has a very good process and board in place and is getting on with that work.

On the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, there are increasing issues around the mix of data protection and privacy, and new legal frameworks are coming into place in May 2018.

A new e-privacy regulation is also proposed. This area, and any necessary legislation, will be an increasing focus of the work of this committee. In recognition of this, there is a 59% increase in the funding allocation for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. This is important in light of the challenges in this area as referenced in the report published yesterday by the Data Protection Commissioner.

Programme B - A Safe and Secure Ireland - includes funding for front-line support offices such as Forensic Science Ireland, the Probation Service, services to victims of crime, including the domestic violence agencies, and for the State pathology agencies. This programme also includes provision for crime prevention measures to support Community Alert and Crimestoppers. Deputies may be aware that a new budget line of €1 million is being provided this year for increased CCTV coverage. I am particularly pleased that it has been possible to allocate €6 million in capital funding to accelerate construction of the new Forensic Science Laboratory to be located in Backweston in County Kildare. This should allow enabling works to commence in 2017. This is a very necessary facility, construction of which, as I said, it is hoped will commence this year.

The budget for COSC is also provided for under this programme, including the media campaign around domestic violence. I recently had a meeting with the stakeholders in this area and we are in ongoing discussion with them in regard to roll-out of the programme over the next few years.

Programme C provides funding for the Legal Aid Board, the Magdalen fund and the costs associated with commissions and special inquiries.

Programme D deals with the migrant integration policy, which was published a few weeks ago.

Programme E deals with the immigration, asylum and citizenship system, including funding for the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INIS, of €64.9 million and €66.6 million in respect of asylum seekers accommodation for this year. The Prison Vote is €327 million, plus an additional €2.833 million in unspent capital. The Public Appointments Service launched a recruitment campaign for prison officers last year. This was the first such campaign since 2008. It is estimated that 80 new recruit prison officers will commence training this year and that the number of recruits in training will increase to over 200 in 2018. This will allow the Prison Service to keep pace with expected developments. There is also a capital provision for continued improvement of the prison estate, including major redevelopment work at Limerick and Portlaoise prisons, which is badly needed, and refurbishment works at Wheatfield, Cloverhill and Castlerea prisons.

Funding for the Courts Service amounts to approximately €140 million. We all know the importance of supporting the development of new courthouses, including in relation to IT infrastructure in light of the ever increasing use of technology in our courts to ensure speedy access to justice. In regard to the new courthouses, under a €22 million public private partnership four courthouses are being constructed in Drogheda, Letterkenny, Limerick and Wexford and substantial refurbishment and extension works are being carried out to historic courthouses in Cork, Mullingar and Waterford. This work is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The additional capital provision in 2017 relates in the main to once-off VAT payments associated with the PPP contract, ICT fit-out costs for the new buildings and the part year payment of the annual charge for the PPP. Additional payroll funding for staff is also provided.

Vote 25 deals with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, which is an independent body. Its allocation has been increased this year by €300,000 to provide for additional staff to enable it to carry out its important work. The Property Regulation Authority has a gross budgetary allocation of €28 million, of which payroll accounts for approximately 84% of expenditure. The Valuation Office has a gross allocation of 11.3 million. This office became part of the justice group for the first time in 2016, having transferred from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Vote Group. It is expected that following the enactment of the relevant legislation the Property Regulation Authority, the Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland will merge to form a new single agency. My Department recently completed a key building block of this merger with the implementation of a national mapping agreement to provide open access for the public service to OSI's mapping products and services. Multiple funding lines across Departments and Offices have been consolidated into a single line of funding. Following this merger, the public will have access to a better service.

As the committee is aware, the justice and equality sector is very broad, with many dimensions, but we were successful in securing significant additional funding in 2017. I look forward to hearing members' views and to answering any questions they may have.