Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy referred to youth services. I highlight that there is an additional €500,000, which brings the total allocation to €14.5 million for youth justice interventions. That includes specific funding of €1.426 million through the Dormant Accounts Fund for the Greentown programme, which is specifically looking at protecting younger people from the influence of adult crime. When the €14.5 million is added to the additional funding through the Dormant Accounts Fund, it brings the total to €16 million. Obviously, that spans various programmes that are in place. As the Deputy will be aware, the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, last week brought to Cabinet the youth justice strategy which will be launched and feed into some of that. It will require additional funding and resources in the budget this year.

As regards extra front-line gardaí, obviously there has been a difficulty in that regard in the past year because the Garda College has been closed. That has led to difficulties in reaching some of the targets we set. We have a target of 450 for this year. The current number is 14,600. Even after taking retirements into account, that will bring us close to the figure of 15,000, not including civilian staff. Although there have been significant problems in this regard in the past year, the target of 500 additional civilian staff this year, which obviously is Covid-dependent, would allow more front-line gardaí to be out on the beat and on the ground. As the Deputy stated, it is extremely important that the Garda has a visible presence not just to be able to detect crime, but to make sure people feel and know that they are being kept safe.

On the issue of mobile devices specifically, much of this relates to automatic number plate recognition, ANPR. There are currently 99 vehicles which are fully equipped with video and ANPR capability. As the Deputy stated, this is about trying to expand that capacity. In 2020, 28 vehicles were purchased and equipped. No additional vehicles have been purchased to date. That is where we are trying to expand in particular on this issue. Approximately €7 million extra has been provided in 2021. Unfortunately, not all of the cars are equipped with this technology. It is really important that we acquire as many of them as possible and that is where much of this is going.

To come back to the original point made by the Chairman regarding the Garda uniform, it is reviewed every couple of years. As I stated, we are in the process of delivering a new uniform which it is hoped will be available by the end of this year or in 2022 at the latest. Other equipment is reviewed much more frequently. The uniforms are reviewed every few years but other equipment is reviewed much more frequently.

On the issue of the Garda Reserve, I understand that at the end of last year there were 476 reservists nationwide. At the end of December, there were 407. Following the attestation of 69 Garda Reserve members on 19 January, this number has gone back up to 476. The report of the Commission on the Future of Policing, endorsed by the Government in December 2018, suggested the Garda Reserve programme as it stands is not realising its potential, so there is more work that we need to do in this regard. The Commission recommended that future recruitment should be paused, pending the outcome of a strategic review in order to examine how we can best structure the Garda Reserve to meet the needs of An Garda Síochána and subsequently be included in a policing service for the future. We are halfway through the four-year implementation plan. The review started in 2019 and we are awaiting its outcome. As I stated, there is more work we could do in this space and that has been acknowledged, including by the Garda Commissioner.

On the issue of the Garda College and increased funding, significant funding was needed to ensure it was possible to take in the recruits in a safe manner, with all of the Covid restrictions that were in place being adhered to. Additional funding was required specifically in that regard.

I have a note regarding three last year and three more this year.

I refer to the point made by Deputy Kenny regarding the commitment we made in respect of the cybersecurity team. As he stated, it is dealing with very difficult material in some instances. It is important that we do not have a team or a system where individuals get burnt out. They should have the full support they need. We are absolutely committed to continued investment in this space and ensuring those teams can be built on, year on year.

I am sure I have missed something. My apologies if that is the case. I will have to revert to Deputy Daly on the issue of the maintenance cost in terms of the holder of that contract. I do not know that directly.