Justice: The long-awaited Irish Youth Justice Service is to become operational next year with €16 million having been earmarked for it in the budget Estimates.
The new service represents the first time a dedicated agency will have full responsibility for youth justice.
Until now responsibility was shared, mainly between the Department of Justice and Department of Education.
The first round of funding includes €12.6 million for capital projects for the start-up agency.
The remainder will be supplemented by an allocation from the Department of Education in the New Year.
The funding will allow for a programme of rejuvenation of youth detention and training facilities.
Some €16.8 million in additional funding from other areas of the Justice vote will also go to youth justice next year for diversion, mentoring and junior liaison programmes.
Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said the underlying ethos of the youth justice system would be detention as a last resort.
Expenditure on prisons is down by one per cent for next year to €353 million. This is in large part due to the resolution of a long-running dispute on overtime and the closure of a number of jails.
However, some €38.4 million has been earmarked for building prisons, up 13 per cent on last year. This includes initial site work on Thornton Hall complex in north Dublin and the creation of new places at some existing jails.
The State's pathology service has received a major boost in funding to €3.8 million, a four-fold increase on 2006. Much of this is intended for the construction of a new pathology and forensics facility which will house the State's DNA database.
Spending on the Courts Service is also up, by 20 per cent to €102 million. Of this, €30 million will be used for a courthouse refurbishment programme.
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