Two new ‘super’ Garda units are being set up — one to target organised gangs and another to tackle child abuse, domestic and sexual violence, and human exploitation.

Almost €25m allocated to the Department of Justice went unspent last year, including €2.4m on the troubled State Pathology facility, about €700,000 on domestic and sexual violence budgets, and more than €100,000 on unfilled vacancies in the Garda Inspectorate.

Around 9m cigarettes have been seized and four people arrested in a major operation involving Garda units and Revenue.

An Garda Síochána should be subject to “intrusive and independent” oversight into how it handles informants, the Garda Ombudsman has said in a hard-hitting report.

Three men in their 30s have been arrested and explosives seized in Co Tipperary as part of an ongoing Garda investigation into dissident Republican activity.

The number of people arrested as part of a garda crackdown on organised crime in Dublin this morning has risen to seven.

Five men have been arrested in a Garda blitz on drug trafficking, gun crime and money laundering.

GARDAÍ have set up a number of dedicated child protection units to improve the investigation and tracking of child abuse cases.

A NUMBER of men are expected to be charged this morning in connection with last Monday’s gangland shooting in which a man was lucky to escape with his life.

GARDA Commissioner Fachtna Murphy is to create a full-time Organised Crime Unit which is set to target serious criminals.

COMMUNITY activists yesterday expressed delight following the seizure of a massive heroin haul in Dublin and the arrest red-handed of a wholesale drugs supplier.

DOG units, being used to sniff out drug smuggling and criminal activity, look set to be extended nationwide.

Several Garda units spent over three hours chasing a two-man gang across Cork today following a spate of burglaries and a road accident.