Dedicated anti-gang budget cut in half

THE dedicated anti-gangland Garda operation has had its budget slashed in half, the new Garda chief has revealed.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan said funding for Operation Anvil had been cut from €21 million in 2010 to €10m in 2011.

But he stressed he could access separate funding to complement this operation. He also said that, if any of the specialist Garda units — targeting organised crime, drugs and terrorism — needed more money for an operation, it would be found.

In his first press briefing since taking over from Fachtna Murphy on December 28, he said the cuts in garda numbers — from 14,500 now to 13,000 by 2014 — and reductions in budgets, particularly overtime budgets, posed “huge challenges” for the force.

But he said he had managed to set aside €10m for Operation Anvil — which involves checkpoints, patrols and searches in gangland hot spots across the country.

“It is a big drop, but, nonetheless, it means that we have to be more focused in terms of what we are doing,” said Mr Callinan, the first Dubliner to run the force.

He said he would “work within” the budget, but added he was not “solely reliant” on it.

“While Operation Anvil is a fund that has been associated in particular with special policing operations — and that is the case — I also have funding available to me to complement and expand on those operations if and when required.”

He said budgets for specialist units — such as the Organised Crime Unit, the Garda National Drugs Unit and the Special Detective Unit — were also being “looked at”, but added: “I want to make it clear if there is a requirement for any of those specialist units or any other unit of An Garda Síochána to put in place an operation, be it an overt operation or an intelligence led operation, then we will find the funding.”

Mr Callinan said there were a “high number” of files with the Director of Public Prosecutions under the new organised crime legislation and the force was “working very hard” on other targets.

“We would be hopeful that we would be successful in bringing a number of prosecutions,” he said.

The Garda chief said the threat posed by dissident republicans was a “huge issue” for police on both sides of the border. He said gardaí had a “considerable number of successes” against dissidents, but remained “very concerned about the variety and frequency of attacks”.

He said there was a 70% rise in attacks on security forces in the North last year. He said gardaí were also targeting the links between dissidents and organised crime and said he wanted to “wipe out” both groupings.

The commissioner said “high volume” crimes, such as burglaries, robberies and thefts were a top priority this year and said it was part of the policing service he wanted to provide to communities. He declined to comment on the Anglo investigation, apart to say it was a “very complex investigation” and a couple of files were now with the DPP.