The Government's new Witness Protection Scheme has been allocated £250,000 next year in the Department of Justice spending Estimates.
At present, three Dublin women, their families and a Cork man and his family are being protected under the scheme, which was prompted by the Garda investigation into the murder of the journalist Veronica Guerin.
The estimates also include a trebling of the allocation to the "secret service". The budget of £250,000 this year increases to £745,000 next year. This money is used to pay for information given in confidence to the gardai.
The Criminal Assets Bureau, set up as a result of the Guerin murder, is also allocated a 30 per cent increase, bringing funding to £3.8 million next year.
More than £47 million has been allocated to continue the prison building programme covering the new prisons at Portlaoise, Co Laois, Castlerea, Co Roscommon, Cloverhill, Co Cavan, the new women's prison at Mountjoy in Dublin and a new prison wing in Limerick.
The cost of updating computer and office systems in the prisons, courts, Garda stations and the Department is also reflected in the estimates. More than £3 million has been allocated to office machinery and supplies in the office of the Minister, an increase of almost 200 per cent. Spending on office machinery and supplies for the Garda will increase by 72 per cent next year - from £9.3 million to £16 million.
The largest increase in spending in both the prisons and the courts is also on office machinery and supplies, with a 219 per cent increase in the courts to £4.5 million and a 128 per cent increase in the prisons sector.
The Association for Victim Support will have its funding more than doubled from £280,000 to £645,000 next year.
Current and capital spending by the Department next year is estimated to be £57.3 million, compared to £47.8 million this year. However, the increase is partly accounted for by the amalgamation of the Department of Justice and the Department of Equality and Law Reform. A spokesman said that the figures represented a 20 per cent increase on the allocation to both Departments last year.
The Probation and Welfare services are also to receive increased funding, with a £1.8 million allocation for the building of three new probation centres.
