Justice to get more funds for first time since 2008

The justice area is set to benefit from higher spending for the first time since 2008, with both capital and current budgets set for significant increases.

The Courts Service will see its budget rise, and there will be significant additional spending in the Garda area, including investment in hundreds of new vehicles and also in the area of information and communications technology.

News that Garda vehicles are to be given priority comes just months after chief inspector of the Garda Inspectorate, Bob Olsen, described the fleet as a "financial time-bomb just ticking away".

“[The] vehicle fleet: they’ve been shuffling them around, which is a smart move, urban to rural, to get more mileage out of them,” he said at the time.

“But all it means is that they are all going to crash at the same time, and there’s going to be a big bill to pay. It’s troublesome.”

With Garda recruitment having already begun again after a five-year break, continued spending on recruitment is expected, although the budgetary provision for that was not clear last night.

Garda numbers have already fallen below 13,000, and retirements from the force generally run at between 200 and 300 per year, although that has been slower in some recent years because large numbers retired early when various incentives were offered to do so since the onset of the recession.

Any failure by the Government to address the issue properly in the budget would be seized upon by the Opposition.