Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Garda force has my absolute support and I fight for its resources. That is why I had €90 million more in 2012 than would otherwise have been available under the 2010 national development plan. That is not to get at Deputy Collins. That is why there is €5 million available, as a minimum sum, to purchase Garda vehicles. That did not feature in the 2010 plan sold to the troika by the previous Government. This is not about scoring points against Fianna Fáil but rather making the point that I fight within the Government to try to ensure we provide the maximum possible resources to the Garda Síochána.

We are living in a country with a reduced financial envelope. We still have major financial issues to address and we must reduce our borrowing requirements. We must do things differently, engaging in modern and smart policing to be as effective or even more effective than we were in the past, and we must do that with fewer resources. I have fewer euro available in 2013 than I had in 2012, and I had fewer in 2012 than was available in 2011. When Deputy Collins's colleagues were in government at the start of 2011, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform at the time had fewer available resources than he had in 2010.

There are fewer financial resources so it is very important to use them wisely and do things differently. When we make operational decisions we must be innovative. The Garda Commissioner and those working under him have been particularly successful in this regard, with the Donegal operation a case in point. Bad people appear in different parts of the country unexpectedly to create difficulties and targeted, smart operations of the nature conducted in Donegal are effective. I will not say anything more about that as people are coming before the courts.

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