Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 13: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the budget of the organised crime unit for 2010; the budget for 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13181/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The organised crime unit was established on a permanent basis in January 2008 to tackle criminal gangs, including those involved in drug trafficking. Since then, the unit has proactively targeted criminal gangs engaged in diverse types of criminality which transcend the traditional Garda unit boundaries. The main functions of the organised crime unit are: to identify organised crime groups that operate within the State through increased profiling, intelligence gathering, overt and covert surveillance and threat assessments; to develop intelligence on highly organised and professional groups of criminals involved in serious crime and whose operations transcend district/divisional and regional boundaries; to develop intelligence and information supplied by confidential sources on major targeted criminals; and, to liaise with other specialist Garda Units in developing intelligence and information from all sources in relation to serious and organised criminal groups.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that, for operational reasons, it is not appropriate to release the specific budget for the Organised Crime Unit. In any event, to release the budget for this one unit may be misleading in that a very considerable amount of the Garda allocation of €1.389 Billion for 2010 is allocated to the fight against organised crime. Operation Anvil alone has an allocation of €21 million euro this year.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Organised Crime Unit is but one entity of National Support Services which targets organised crime groups. There are seven other specialist Garda Units within National Support Services including the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Garda National Drug Unit, the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Technical Bureau that work operationally with the Organised Crime Unit in tackling the emerging threat from any organised crime groups. Also, targeted intelligence-led operations such as Operation Anvil continue to result in significant seizures of firearms and property related to criminal activity and have led to the arrests and prosecutions of those involved.

Very significant efforts and resources continue to be directed on an ongoing basis in tackling organised crime and gangland culture and the State will be relentless in its approach in bringing those involved in such activities to justice.