Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

ICT capital is €34 million, including the first tranche of the capital investment plan of €205 million. I thank the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform under the stewardship of the former Minister, Deputy Howlin, for the work relating to the development of that ICT infrastructure, which was so essential. In total, €330 million, including €205 million under the capital plan, is being invested in Garda ICT infrastructure between 2016 and 2021 to enable An Garda Síochána to deploy the latest cutting-edge technologies in the fight against crime. Having this type of coherent ICT plan in place is long overdue.

In respect of building capital, €50 million is provided for the contractual costs of the construction of three new divisional headquarters as well as a refurbishment programme of stations throughout the country. This was agreed last year and a priority programme was developed in conjunction with and dictated by An Garda Síochána which identified the stations in need of refurbishment. As I have already said, we have the new builds as well.

A total of €6 million was invested in the Garda fleet. This was to ensure that we had a modern, effective and fit-for-purpose Garda fleet. This will continue under the capital plan 2016-2021, which provides €46 million for new Garda vehicles, ensuring that gardaí can be mobile, visible and responsive on the roads and in the community to prevent and tackle crime. This is in addition to €34 million already invested in the fleet since 2012 with more than 720 new vehicles coming on stream since the start of 2015. This must continue and accelerate because the need is out there. It has been clearly identified that we need to replace the old fleet and continually update the fleet.

The Government has consistently made it clear that it would fund whatever measures were needed for An Garda Síochána to best tackle the critical and unprecedented challenges they currently face. The provision of additional funding in the current year is essential in the context of the challenges that An Garda Síochána is currently facing.

These additional moneys are made available based on information from Garda management regarding the level of funding required to maintain the necessary policing response to the current situation on an ongoing basis. This will allow for the kind of concentrated policing targeted operations we need. It will allow for the continuation of the continued intensive and strategic targeting of burglaries and related crime through ongoing support for Operation Thor. We are getting very good results from that. It shows that a specific operation that is very clearly targeted on a particular issue, which is the way of modern policing, gets results. It will also allow for continued support for measures against international terrorism. I have just come from a meeting with the Garda Commissioner and her senior staff where we discussed the interoperability of the various databases and Ireland's situation regarding that interoperability, which is so essential to manage international crime, cyber-crime and terrorism. It is essential that we update the databases we have because we are behind in respect of this. The provision of immediate additional funding is both necessary and welcome but the Government is also committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána is well resourced and capable of providing a strong and visible police presence throughout the country well into the future.

The programme for a partnership Government commits to continuing the ongoing accelerated Garda recruitment programme with a view to increasing Garda numbers to 15,000. In accelerating recruitment, we must ensure that we have the resources for proper training, support and supervision when gardaí leave Templemore. Mistakes were made previously when high numbers entered Templemore but we did not have the necessary supervision and training. This has been identified in both the O'Higgins report and the Garda Inspectorate reports. At the same time as these investments are continuing, the Commissioner has announced her own programme of reform, better management and change management within An Garda Síochána. This is essential.

My Department is engaging with the Public Appointments Service as a matter of priority in respect of the preparation of a recruitment plan for the next five years that will deliver increased numbers of gardaí without any compromise in respect of the quality of those recruited or the training programme. Work is under way on increasing civilianisation and where appropriate, identifying the number of gardaí carrying out duties that could be taken on by civilians. I have been alerted by other police forces to the need to do this in a very careful way so that the right jobs are freed up and this is handled appropriately. The Garda Inspectorate identified 1,500 jobs that it felt could be freed up in this manner but An Garda Síochána does not agree with this assessment. We are having ongoing discussions to look into the numbers where we can move forward in respect of civilianisation. We are committed to increasing the recruitment of civilians to provide expertise in relevant administrative areas and free up gardaí for front-line policing duties. We will replace the gardaí working in Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport with civilians at the end of the year. Advertisements appeared in newspapers recently in respect of that ongoing process and the process has already happened at Terminal 1.

Deputies will appreciate that increasing resources alone will not defeat the scourge of gang-related and associated crime that currently impacts parts of our cities and country. We need a comprehensive range of measures, including legislative measures to combat the threats from serious and organised crime. We will have a dedicated Garda armed support unit for the Dublin area, which is in the process of being set up. The Garda Commissioner has recently announced the establishment of a new Garda special crime task force under the drugs and organised crime bureau to augment the response to organised crime at a local level through concentrated policing and through a multi-agency approach to targeting the proceeds of crime. The impact of international co-operation cannot be stressed enough. At the recent EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg, I met bilaterally with Ministers from Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium to discuss international co-operation and how it could be pursued further to deal with organised crime groups operating in those countries that impact Ireland.

An Garda Síochána is working closely with community representatives in the north inner city. A programme relating to that task force will developed over the coming weeks. More consultation must be carried out, as the House has been informed, but that will develop over the coming weeks.

I have already spoken about ongoing civilianisation. Deputies will see that I have addressed this in more detail in the speech that has been circulated. I am conscious of the time.

I wish to alert people to the work that is being done in the prisons in terms of the prison estate and the money that has been put into that. Further work needs to be carried out in Portlaoise and Limerick to bring the estate up to the appropriate standard. Substantial refurbishment and extension work is being carried out in seven courthouse venues in Drogheda, Letterkenny, Limerick, Wexford, Cork, Mullingar and Waterford. Deputies will be very pleased to see a new development where a site has been acquired at Hammond Lane for the development of a new family law court complex. This is urgent and work has begun on the planning for that new service there.

As Deputies will appreciate, there is much that is taking place in the justice and equality sector. I am grateful to my colleagues in Government, particularly the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and his officials for their support for the necessary additional funding for An Garda Síochána. I look forward to support from this House and a constructive debate on these Estimates.

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