Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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129. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the breakdown of the €28,920,000 capital allocation in the justice division within his Department for 2019, that is, Vote 24 of the budget 2019 expenditure report by specific project; the projects that will be commenced in 2019; the projects that will be completed in 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6008/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Justice and Equality Vote Group includes the Department of Justice and Equality, An Garda Síochána, the Prison Service, the Courts Service, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Policing Authority. Vote 24 relates to the Department of Justice and Equality.

Within Vote 24, an amount of €28,570,000 of the total capital allocation of €28,920,000 has been allocated to the construction of the new Forensic Science Laboratory. Certain site enabling works have commenced to date, and the main construction of the new laboratory is due to start in 2019 with an expected completion date in 2021. The balance of the capital allocation of €350,000 relates to ICT hardware and other capital costs which will be incurred in 2019.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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130. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the breakdown of the €51,517,000 capital allocation in the Courts Service within his Department for 2019, that is, Vote 22 of the budget 2019 expenditure report by specific project; the projects that will be commenced in 2019; the projects that will be completed in 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6009/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, following the publication by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform of the Estimates for Public Services on 9 October 2018, the capital allocation for 2019 for the Courts Service was confirmed at €51.517 million. Furthermore, there was a carryover of €2.5 million in capital expenditure from 2018 to 2019, which is allocated to Information Communication Technology (ICT) Capital, bringing the total capital allocation in 2019 to €54.017 million.

It comprises €11.42 million for maintenance and development of new and existing ICT systems, €4.88 million for courthouse capital works and €37.717 million for unitary charge payments in relation to the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin and a number of regional courthouses provided under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements.

As the Deputy will also be aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions.

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that €6.19 million of the €11.42 million ICT allocation for 2019 is contractually committed and this includes managed services, software licences, hardware/software support, database/network administration as well as Lotus Notes support. The carry over of €2.5 million from 2018 allows for extra expenditure on hardware and software upgrades, e-filing and other ICT projects.

A breakdown of the ICT allocation for 2019 is as follows:

The Courts Service has also provided a list of ICT projects due to be completed in 2019 as follows:

- Firewall Replacement;

- Legal Cost Adjudicators;

- e-Filing Supreme Court;

- Courts Service Website;

- Supreme Court Website;

- Agresso Upgrade;

- New Judicial Workplace;

- Various Justice Hub Projects.

The Courts Service has advised that the allocation of €4.88 million for courthouse capital works is as follows:

- €1.38 million for repayment of Cork Loan (principal only element) - 2019 repayments to Cork City Council in respect of the refurbishment it carried out to Washington Street Courthouse in 2003;

- €0.98 million for capital lease payments;

The balance of €2.52 million will be used to progress a variety of projects, which are in various stages of development and could include, depending on the availability of resources and other variables, the following during 2019:

- Ongoing preparatory work on a dedicated Dublin Family Court complex on Hammond Lane;

- A condition survey of approximately 70 court buildings nationwide (intended to be completed in 2019) to ascertain the physical condition of each courthouse building, to identify works required to bring each building up to an acceptable standard and to determine ongoing maintenance requirements;

- Minor capital works required to enhance buildings and physical infrastructure in Dublin and nationwide;

- Site acquisitions as a prerequisite step to enable the future development/extension and refurbishment of courthouse facilities at a number of County town venues;

- Preparations for courthouse developments at Dungloe and Tuam.

The Courts Service has also advised that the contractual commitment relating to the PPP contracts for the Criminal Courts of Justice Complex in Dublin is €22.973 million and the seven Regional Courthouses is €14.744 million, amounting to €37.717m of the overall capital allocation for 2019.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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131. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the details of the €92,340,000 capital allocation in An Garda Síochána within his Department for 2019, that is, Vote 20 of the budget 2019 expenditure report by specific project in tabular form; the projects that will be commenced in 2019; the projects that will be completed in 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6010/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Justice and Equality Vote Group includes the Department of Justice and Equality, An Garda Síochána, the Prison Service, the Courts Service, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Policing Authority. Vote 20 relates to the An Garda Síochána.

The Deputy will be aware that the resources provided by Government to An Garda Síochána have reached unprecedented levels.As the Deputy has indicated, the overall capital allocation for 2019 is over €92 million, in addition to a further almost €3.6 million in unspent capital carried over from 2018. This total is divided across the Garda estate, the Garda fleet and Garda ICT as in the revised estimates.

It is a matter for the Commissioner to efficiently manage the resources provided to An Garda Síochána, based upon operational requirements.I am informed by the Garda authorities that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review so as to ensure their optimum use.

In that context, I am not in a position to provide a list of all projects for 2019 at this stage. Nonetheless, the following general information may be of interest to the Deputy.

A capital allocation of €10 million will be available to An Garda Síochána for the Garda fleet in 2019.The allocation across Divisions is a matters to be determined by the Commissioner, in accordance with operational needs.

A total of €61 million has been allocated to Garda ICT infrastructure and Communications for 2019. I understand that a full list of ICT projects for 2019, together with a breakdown of the roll-out of additional ICT infrastructure across the Divisions, is still being finalised within An Garda Síochána.

In terms of the Garda estate, I would recall that the Office of Public Works (OPW) has the responsibility for the provision and maintenance of Garda accommodation and accordingly the programme of replacement and refurbishment of Garda accommodation is progressed by the Garda authorities working in close cooperation with the OPW.

Funding for the ongoing investment in the Garda estate is spread across the Garda and OPW votes. Insofar as concerns the Garda vote, a total of approximately €21.5 million supports relevant building programmes for 2019, together with a further almost €3.6 million in unspent capital carried over from 2018.

The Garda Building and Refurbishment programme2016-2021 will continue to be delivered during 2019. The programme includes planned works at over 30 locations, including:

- major refurbishment of selected stations and facilities, including facilities for meeting victims of crime;

- essential remedial works to selected existing stations; and

- development of large scale Property and Exhibit Management Stores (PEMS).

The programme also includes a Cell Refurbishment Programme and provision of improved Custody Management Facilities.

Other major building projects which will continue to be progressed in relation to the Garda estate during 2019 include the ongoing refurbishment of Fitzgibbon Street station; development of a facility at Military Road, Dublin; and the Garda Station Pilot Re-opening Project.

The clear goal of this significant investment is to address deficiencies in the Garda estate and provide fit-for-purpose facilities for Garda members and staff as well as the public interacting with them.

As the Deputy will be aware, the current investment in An Garda Síochána has also reached unprecedented levels, with an allocation for 2019 of €1.76 billion, representing an increase of over 6% over the initial allocation for 2018.

This significant current and capital investment in An Garda Síochána is in support of the Government’s commitment to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country, to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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132. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the details of the €100,000 capital allocation in the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission within his Department for 2019, that is, Vote 25 of the budget 2019 expenditure report by specific project; the projects that will be commenced in 2019; the projects that will be completed in 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6011/19]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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The Justice and Equality Vote Group includes the Department of Justice and Equality, An Garda Síochána, the Prison Service, the Courts Service, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Policing Authority. Vote 25 relates to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC).

As the Deputy is aware, IHREC is an independent statutory body, established under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act, 2014. The Act provides that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be independent in the performance of its functions. Furthermore, the Director of the IHREC is the Accounting Officer for Vote 25 and not the Secretary General of my Department.

In accordance with my responsibility to the Oireachtas to report on the use of funds which IHREC receives, my officials contacted IHREC in relation to the Deputy's question. IHREC has indicated that an estimated €50,000 is budgeted for office refurbishment works to accommodate new staff and to improve their library facility and an additional €50,000 is earmarked for office equipment costs. These works are to be commenced and completed in 2019.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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133. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the details of the €32,330 capital allocation in the prisons division within his Department for 2019, that is, Vote 21 of the Budget 2019 Expenditure Report by specific project; the projects that will be commenced in 2019; the projects that will be completed in 2019, In tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6012/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I have been advised by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that the allocation of Capital Funding is subject to change as projects progress through various phases of their lifecycle. Below is the latest estimate for 2019.

* This relates to capital expenditure allocated to use on IT Projects. There are a range of projects which will be completed during 2019 including prisoner phone system, core routers upgrade, email encryption and network hardware.