Frontline services 'will be protected' in €65m cutback

JUSTICE: ALMOST €65 million is being cut from justice and crime budgets next year.

The budget of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform falls by over €30 million, or 7 per cent.

Spending on the Garda is down marginally, by €4 million on a €1.5 billion budget.

The Prison Service's budget is being trimmed by over €20 million, or over 5 per cent, while the Courts Service sees its budget cut by €9 million, or more than 14 per cent.

The savings are likely to come from reduced overtime for gardaí and prison officers, a reduction in the number of continuing inquiries paid for by the Department of Justice, less spending on asylum services and a cull of some quangos.

Bodies such as the Equality Authority and Equality Tribunal, which were mooted for amalgamation with other organisations, could yet fall victim to the cull, though latest indications from political sources suggest these bodies may be spared.

A spokesman for Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said that, as far as was feasible, spending on frontline services, such as the fight against crime, would be protected.

He declined to provide further detail about the cutbacks in advance of the budget next week.

However, departmental sources stressed yesterday that spending in the justice area has gone up dramatically in recent years.

Last year's budget grew 11 per cent on the previous year and a similar increase was implemented the year before.

A number of continuing projects are largely completed, such as the provision of protective equipment for all gardaí, the development of the training centre at Templemore, Co Tipperary, and the refurbishment of Garda stations around the country. Therefore, spending was set to fall anyway.

Sources also said that with Garda numbers at an historically high figure of almost 15,000, spending on overtime was set to fall.

The 2009 budgets are as follows: Department of Justice, €434 million; Garda Síochána, €1.502 billion; Prison Service, €340.5 million; Courts Service, €53 million. The budget of the Property Registration Authority is also being cut by €1.5 million, to €39.7 million.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times