Pedal power: 130 new bikes for two-wheeled Garda unit
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MINISTER FOR Justice Dermot Ahern has said he cannot rule out cutbacks in Garda expenditure before the end of the year but has insisted the force will still have the necessary funding for “front line” duties.
He said Ireland was “obviously in more difficult economic times” and that budgets across all Government departments were being reviewed. Asked whether he could rule out cutbacks for the Garda for the remainder of the year, he replied: “I’m not saying no cutbacks. The reality is, as the Taoiseach has said, corrective measures have to be taken between now and the end of the year. I’m happy that whatever takes place within my department, that An Garda Síochána will be able to continue to do its work to the same level they have been doing in the earlier part of this year.”
Any reduction in expenditure for the Garda for next year would be discussed in the context of the need to take “corrective measures” during the economic slowdown.
Mr Ahern added the force has been “incredibly resourced” in recent years. He said Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy was satisfied with the current level of resourcing.
Mr Ahern was speaking to reporters at the announcement at Store Street Garda station in Dublin’s north inner city of an expansion in the Garda Mountain Bike Unit. Some 130 bikes have been added to the unit, bringing the total to 490.
Mr Murphy said while €33 million had been spent on Garda overtime in the first three months of the year, some of the spending had gone on Operation Anvil, which targets organised crime gangs across the country.
“I’m happy with the budget and I’m working within the budget. But I’m not going to let budgetary issues prevent me from providing a proper policing service to the people of Dublin and the people of the whole country.”
Asked about a warning by the Garda’s chief administrative officer John Leamy that the Garda overtime budget for the year would run out in August unless corrective measures were taken, Mr Murphy said the matter was “a management issue”.
“What I want is proper intelligence-led operations put in place, evaluated and assessed, and that we’re all getting value for the money we’re spending. I’m happy that we are doing that.”
Mr Murphy said he had told his specialist Garda units that he wanted them “in the faces” of criminals. He believed high visibility policing such as that provided by the Garda Mountain Bike Unit represented effective crime detection and prevention.
He said the additional resources being allocated to the unit would see more gardaí on bicycles policing communities not just in Dublin but across Ireland.
The unit would now be seen in places such as Carrigaline in Co Cork, Ballybunion in Co Kerry, Achill in Co Mayo, Blackrock in Co Louth and Lusk in north Co Dublin.