James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and members for making time available to consider these Supplementary Estimates for An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service and a technical Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Justice Vote. I am joined by officials from my Department, Mr. Seamus Clifford, principal officer, and Ms Martina Colville, assistant secretary.

A net Supplementary Estimate requirement of €22.9 million arises in respect of the Garda Síochána Vote this year. This comprises a gross expenditure requirement of €45.9 million, which is offset by a projected surplus in appropriations-in-aid receipts of €23 million, giving a net requirement of €22.9 million for the Vote. The additional requirement reflects the ongoing front-line and visible nature of An Garda Síochána's work to support public health measures and counteract the impact of the pandemic throughout the State during 2021. It is expected that the overtime spend will exceed the budget by some €18.4 million, while payroll costs, excluding overtime, will require an additional €7.5 million. Overtime expenditure came under particular pressure with the enforcement of Covid restrictions during the year, particularly as society opened in early summer. An Garda Síochána had to deploy preventative patrols in high-volume public areas in line with the outdoor summer policy, which was an overall success. While the Commissioner has taken measures to address the overrun, I am informed that the expected additional requirement is in the region of €18.4 million.

It was necessary for the Commissioner to extend the Covid roster arrangements for 2021, which impacted on the payroll subhead. However, there are other contributory factors as well. The impact of pay increases, particularly the superannuation parity agreement with Garda pensioners, has contributed to the additional requirements for pay and pensions. An additional €12.2 million is required in respect of this superannuation subhead. The related pay increases were not finalised until 2021, which means no provision was made in the Revised Estimates.

The Supplementary Estimate also provides in the region of €2 million for the procurement of essential equipment purchases, mainly relating to ICT capital, to increase the organisation's agility and flexibility. This includes the continued upgrading or replacing on a phased basis of the Garda ICT network, including hardware to support the continued roll-out of operational equipment and increasing demand arising from additional staffing numbers.

There is a technical aspect to the Supplementary Estimate in that An Garda Síochána is in receipt of Internal Security Fund, ISF, funding for certain ICT capital and other projects. The ISF is a European Structural Fund which contributes to ensuring a high level of security throughout the European Union. This funding includes investment of €1.7 million in ICT capital equipment to combat cybercrime and €1.7 million for upgraded equipment for the Garda helicopter. The Supplementary Estimate is the mechanism for reflecting expenditure from this source and in total, expenditure is approximately €4 million with a corresponding receipt of €3.3 million in appropriations-in-aid.

There are various other overspends in the non-pay subheads including on telecommunications services of €6.7 million, station services of €4.8 million and transport fuel and maintenance costs of €2.9 million. On the other hand, there are certain offsetting costs available, including those related to the scaled-down activities and redeployment of resources from the Garda College for a period during the pandemic and surplus receipts from pension contributions.

I take this opportunity to commend An Garda Síochána on the leadership and resilience Garda members have shown over the past 20 months through a very challenging period for them and for our society. I know members will agree that An Garda Síochána has provided, and continues to provide, a crucial front-line service to all our communities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

A net Supplementary Estimate of €3 million is required in 2021 in respect of the Courts Service Vote. The Courts Service expects that the shortfall in court fees income will be in the region of €7 million as a direct result of the impact of Covid-19. This will be offset in part by underspends in gross expenditure of approximately €4 million, thus giving rise to the additional Supplementary Estimate requirement of €3 million. The Courts Service has also indicated that it will have a capital carryover requirement of €3.638 million from 2021 to 2022.

The increase in Courts Service business in the second half of the year will not be sufficient to make up for the shortfall in income in the earlier part of the year. The shortfall also reflects the reduction in income due to the delay in reopening the night-time economy in the second half of 2021, underpinned by the Government decision to waive the licensing and special exemptions orders fees to support vintners, other licensed premises and the hospitality sector generally.

The shortfall in fee income has been offset in part by underspends in gross expenditure, including in areas such as travel expenses due to the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions, along with an underspend on leases when jury sittings were not held in the first few months of 2021. On the other hand, there have been increased costs in other areas such as telecommunications costs arising from the increase in network connections to support digital courtroom sessions.

Throughout the pandemic, the Judiciary and the Courts Service have worked closely together to find innovative technological solutions that would enable them to maintain the highest level of court activity possible, with a particular focus on families, victims of domestic abuse and people who are most vulnerable at this time. It is expected that the progress made on new ways of working will be maintained into the future.

The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is committed to driving the modernisation and digital-first agenda across the entire justice sector. I particularly welcome the commitment set out by the Courts Service in its Corporate Strategic Plan 2021–2023, to maximise the use of digital technologies to provide an improved and user-centred service. I am particularly pleased to note the steps taken to use video link and other technologies to the greatest extent possible. These steps are welcome progress in the modernisation of services. Substantial additional funding has been provided for the courts modernisation programme and I look forward to the positive outcome of this investment for the service in the future.

A technical Supplementary Estimate of €1,000 is required in respect of the justice Vote. No additional funding is required for the Vote. The technical Supplementary Estimate is required to utilise surplus receipts to offset additional costs in the gross part of the Vote. This relates to areas such as payroll, as well as administrative expenses, including legal costs and contracted services, in functions such as internal audit and funds administration within my Department. It is also needed for demand-led costs, particularly for criminal legal aid and custody issues schemes.

There are underspends in a number of other subheads such as compensation for personal injuries criminally inflicted and the Coroner Service which are mainly due to timing issues. These underspends are available to offset overruns in other subheads, thus ensuring a balanced Vote in 2021.

The surplus receipts are expected to be in the region of €12.8 million and mainly relate to additional EU receipts of €8 million and immigration-related fees of approximately €5 million. The additional EU receipts are mainly due to extra European Social Fund, ESF, receipts being made available to my Department by the managing authority, which is the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. This is largely as a result of reductions in claims in other areas of the public service under the ESF operational programme, which has allowed for additional justice-related funding claims in respect of qualifying expenditure in areas such as youth justice and probation in the previous year.

Due to uncertainty over foreign travel and other Covid-related restrictions, it was difficult to predict the intake from immigration-related fees in 2021. While we expect a relatively small shortfall in visa and citizenship fees, there will be a surplus in immigration registration fees due to the renewal of existing registration fees and new applications coming on stream towards the end of the year.

I recommend the Supplementary Estimates to the committee and I am happy to address any questions members may have.