Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The report of the Garda audit committee should not be misinterpreted as indicating any underfunding of the Garda in 2007. The report referred to by the Deputy was submitted to the Garda Commissioner. The Garda budget for 2007 was a record high of more than €1.4 billion. This enabled the force to continue to expand its attested strength to 13,755 by the end of the year, with a further thousand recruits in training. It also enabled the force to increase its civilian support staff by an unprecedented 32%. The budget also made possible the continued renewal and expansion of the Garda fleet and facilitated a major investment in information and communication technology. The fact that an additional €25 million was made available to the Garda by way of Supplementary Estimate is not an indication of an inadequacy in the original budget for 2007. It was not needed to plug gaps. Instead, and following regular monitoring of expenditure trends and operational requirements over the year by the Garda and my Department, it was made available to facilitate a further increase in discretionary spending on overtime, significantly above the budget provision of €88.8 million. As is standard practice, the Supplementary Estimate was submitted to, and approved by, the House towards the end of the financial year when the likely outturn figures were known.

The reality from an auditing perspective is, had this additional provision not been available, discretionary expenditure would have been maintained within the original allocation without impact on the original agreed priorities. In the final analysis the expenditure for the Vote as a whole for 2007 was €21 million more than the original Estimate provision, representing just 1.5% of the overall Garda budget. With regard to this year, the total budget increased by 11.6% on the 2007 allocation to more than €1.6 billion. I am satisfied sufficient funds are available again this year for the Garda to carry out its functions, expand its strength and continue the major programme of investment under way. Although the report is submitted to the Commissioner, not to me, I interpret the report as referring to the Supplementary Estimate and the need for same.

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