Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing me to contribute. I thank the Minister for her breakdown of the Vote. In her opening statement, she referred to provision in the ICT budget for equipment in vehicles.

I had the experience - I do not know whether I would call it the pleasure - of being stopped by the PSNI in the North. The officers were able to check my car on their computer and tell me it was not taxed. It actually was taxed, which is a separate issue, and it seems the Garda system was not updated. My point, however, is that the PSNI officers were able to access the Garda system and tell me about my car. Subsequently, I was stopped three times on the way back to Killybegs by gardaí doing Covid checks, which was very welcome, but they did not have anything to tell me anything about my car. That is the crux of what I am saying. A member of An Garda told me that in the area in question in Donegal, there is just one handheld unit on which details of my car or any other can be checked. Having just one unit between 50 or 60 gardaí in the area seems very remiss. How many units will €7 million provide? Obviously, this is the way the Garda should be going and it would be very useful, but it sticks in the craw a wee bit when the PSNI can do as I describe and the Garda cannot in the local area. When will the programme be rolled out such that all gardaí will be able to check the details of a car?

On the various budget items, I thank the Department for providing us with the documentation and I thank the committee staff for their work on it. There are major differences in the allocations. Under A10, on compensation, there is a 31.7% increase. Why is that the case? It seems huge. Under A11, on the witness security programme, there is an increase of 200%. By comparison with what was originally budgeted for last year, it would be an increase of 399%. While the supplementary budget and Covid have had an impact, I am wondering whether the major increase associated with each budget item is normal. Is there some reason the compensation budget is expected to increase by 32%? By comparison with the sum originally budgeted for, there is actually an increase of 38.5% year on year. Could the Minister explain this a little more?