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

Vote 24 - Justice, has a gross Estimate provision of €498.7 million, plus an additional €5.122 million in unspent capital brought forward from 2021 under the capital carryover provisions. The budget is broken down into two separate programmes, the criminal and civil justice pillars, comprising almost 50 separate subheads. The budgetary provision for 2022 enables a number of key priorities to be advanced and provides additional resources to a number of agencies and programmes in the civil and criminal justice sectors.

I am particularly pleased that it is possible to build on the investment in Estimates 2021 for victim supports and to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in all its forms. This reflects the fact that tackling these crimes and supporting victims is a priority for this Government. Over the past 12 months, we have made good progress in tackling and raising awareness of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. An integral part of this has been in working closely with our front-line partners and taking a sectoral approach to the issues, and we want to continue this.

In 2022, we will provide over €1 million to the Legal Aid Board to provide for legal advice and services in court to victims of sexual violence. Over €1 million will be provided to the Garda to upgrade its divisional protective service units. Some €5.3 million will be provided for awareness-raising initiatives, including knowing the signs, what supports are available etc. In addition, €4.9 million is being provided to support victims of crime groups. A significant proportion of this is earmarked for the domestic, sexual and gender-based violence area. The €5.3 million also deals with training, which I touched on earlier with Deputy Carroll MacNeill.

The Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 was launched in 2021. The immediate priority within the new strategy is to enhance engagement with children and young people who are most at risk of involvement in criminal activity, principally by strengthening the services available through the existing network of 105 youth diversion projects, YDPs, across the State. The additional €6.7 million provided for in the Estimates represents an increase of one third in support for youth services. Apologies, I said "doubled" earlier. It provides the resources to kick-start delivery of key objectives in the youth justice strategy and, in particular, the programme to expand and deepen the range of supports available through local YDP services.

The budget of Forensic Science Ireland, FSI, is over €56.5 million in 2022. This includes a capital allocation of €30.5 million to complete the development of a new state-of-the-art laboratory in Backweston, County Kildare. Despite the impact of the Covid restrictions, in the region of over €69 million was spent on this project over the past two years. A number of other agencies in the criminal justice sector received additional funding. The Criminal Assets Bureau received €900,000 with its total allocation being €10.9 million. The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission received an additional €2.1 million, which brings the total allocation to €13.4 million. This reflects the increased workload in terms of volume and complexity which the commission is dealing with. Increased resources have also been made available to the Inspector of Prisons of €400,000, bringing the total allocation to €2.35 million, and the Parole Board now has a total allocation of €1.74 million, which reflects the expanded remit of this body following its establishment as a statutory agency in July 2021.

I am particularly pleased that the community safety innovation fund has been established in the justice Vote in 2022. An amount of €2 million has been provided in 2022. A call for funding proposals will issue seeking applications for community safety projects and similar initiatives from the new local community safety partnerships. Applications will be assessed against criteria outlined in the call for proposals to ensure funding is allocated to encourage the development of innovative ways in which to improve community safety, from people who understand local community safety-needs best and to avoid duplication with other services. The new fund will reflect the significant successes of An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in disrupting criminal activity and seizing proceeds of crime, by providing additional funding for investment in community safety projects.