Angry reaction to spending cuts in Department of Justice

SPENDING across a raft of areas under the Department of Justice will be cut next year despite the Garda Síochána budget rising to over 1bn for the first time.

The areas to be hit include victim support, crime prevention, disabled rights, anti-racism campaigns, equality measures, asylum seekers and the probation services.

Opposition politicians and rights campaigners have reacted angrily to the estimates for those sectors under the management of the Department of Justice. Labour's Joe Costello described cuts in the Probation Service services to offenders will be slashed by 8% as "incredible" and dismissed the 9% increase in the garda budget as "little or nothing additional".