More money must be made available to prosecute gangland crime and those accused of serious financial irregularities, the Director of Public Prosecutions said today.
James Hamilton warned of a significant increase in the burden placed on his office in the next few years.
He said the McCarthy Report on public spending did not recommend staff reductions despite the difficult economic climate.
“The scope for further savings and efficiencies is now extremely limited,” he said.
“Due to the demand-led nature of our functions and the increasing complexity of criminal work even if there is some drop-off in overall crime rates I do not anticipate any significant reduction in the volume of work coming
to us.” He was addressing the Annual National Prosecutors’ Conference.
Given the major Garda initiatives to tackle gangland crime, together with the ongoing Garda and director of corporate enforcement investigations into allegations of financial irregularities, we must anticipate a significant increase in the burden placed on this office in the next few years,“ he added.
“While the office is subject to the Government’s decision to restrict recruitment and promotion, I think it is important to note that the McCarthy Report did not recommend staff reductions in the office.
“While we have to date been able to continue to operate with existing staffing levels and will continue to endeavour to do so, I am conscious that should we see a significant increase in the complexity or volume of our workload arising from these investigations this will need to be reviewed.”
PA