Gardaí are expected to push for a further extension of the witness protection programme in light of yesterday's Supreme Court judgment removing a legal doubt over the scheme.
A spokesman for the Garda said it had recently completed a review of the protection programme and would make adjustments in light of recent court rulings and operational developments.
Any relevant comments from the Supreme Court judgment would be taken into account in a future review, he said.
The scheme, which is managed by Assistant Commissioner Nacie Rice in the crime and security division at Garda headquarters, has an annual budget of €1 million to cover the cost of housing and supporting witnesses and their families. That figure may rise in the coming years if the scheme is extended.
Detectives believe witness protection could be critical in breaking up drug gangs, including those in Limerick implicated in the murder of nightclub bouncer Brian Fitzgerald in November 2002.
It is understood gardaí had been awaiting the Gilligan judgment before bringing a further "supergrass" before the courts.
The path is now clear for hired hitman James Cahill, who was last week convicted of shooting Fitzgerald, to testify against his alleged employers. Cahill, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, told the Central Criminal Court: "I am willing to say that I will testify if a further case is coming.
"I feel my life is in danger in prison, not just from prisoners but from prison officers because of what I feel in this case."
Gardaí investigating recent tit-for-tat gangland murders in Dublin had hoped to place the survivor of one recent shooting in the witness protection programme. However, the man, who was injured in last week's murder in Clontarf of 27-year-old drug dealer Noel Roche, refused to co-operate with detectives and was discharged from custody.
Witness protection has been successfully used by gardaí in a number of other cases, including the conviction of two men last July for murdering a 25-year-old father of one outside Cloverhill Prison.
Thomas Hinchon (25), Clondalkin, and Brian Kenny (36), Finglas, were sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for the murder of Jonathan O'Reilly. Kenny was further sentenced to three years, and Hinchon for 18 months, for threatening to kill Joseph O'Callaghan (20), the State's main witness who had been under Garda protection.
The Garda has consistently refused to disclose how many people are under protection at any one time, citing security reasons.
