Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not have details of the expenditure that Deputy Mattie McGrath mentioned. That is a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. However, Government Departments regularly retain outside advice, whether that is legal advice, accountancy advice or people who come in and provide ICT projects for example. When a Department uses outside consultants it generally does so for two reasons. The expertise may not exist within the Department. Government Departments often do not have ICT, accounting, or legal expertise. Another reason it is done is because it is cheaper than hiring large numbers of new employees to do that work and taking on all the pension liabilities that come with that.

The CCTV scheme is a relatively new scheme. It is a good one. I know of examples around the country where it has worked well. There are issues and teething problems and there are ways that it could be improved. The Minister for Justice and Equality is keen to see that budget drawn down. He would like to see communities around the country avail of the installation of CCTV so that crime can be discouraged in the first place and detected where it does occur. I would not, however, like anyone to think that the Government's response to crime is solely related to putting in place CCTV systems.

It is about much more than that. The Deputy will acknowledge that a few years ago we reopened the Garda College in Templemore and resumed recruitment to the Garda. Increasing the number of gardaí on our streets and in our communities is one of the best ways to tackle crime. Since the Garda College reopened, 1,600 recruits have attested and been assigned to mainstream duties across the country. Garda numbers stood at 13,500 at the end of January 2018. That was an increase of 600 on 2016. We are also heading to reach our target of increasing the Garda workforce to 21,000 by 2021. That will comprise of 15,000 gardaí, 2,000 reserve members and 4,000 civilians. From 2013 to 2017, €44 million was also invested in the Garda fleet. That allowed 2,000 additional vehicles to come on stream. The Garda fleet now stands at 2,800 vehicles. That is an increase of 150 since January 2016.

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