800 new gardaí and 400 civilian staff to be recruited next year
The long-running target of successive governments has been to bring garda numbers to 15,000 by the end of 2021. File Picture
A fund of €28 million is being provided to allow for the recruitment of 800 new gardaí and 400 civilian staff under Budget 2022.
The expanded trainee target for next year marks a move by the Government to take back ground lost over the last two years, caused by the Covid pandemic, in the recruitment of gardaí.
As reported in the Irish Examiner on Monday, the strength of the force now stands at 14,369 – the lowest level since January 2020.
The total strength has fallen every month over the last five months and compares to a height of 14,750 gardaí in March 2020.
The long-running target of successive governments has been to bring garda numbers to 15,000 by the end of 2021.
Over the last three years, budget provisions for recruitment have not been met, in the last two years because of Covid:
- Budget 2019 provided funding for the recruitment of “up to 800” gardaí, but Commissioner Harris said he intended to recruit 600;
- Budget 2020 allocated funding for the recruitment “up to 700” gardaí, but only 275 were recruited, because of Covid;
- Budget 2021 provided funding for “up to 620” recruits, but a maximum of 450 will be taken on, again because of Covid, garda sources said the recruitment of 800 gardaí will be a “logistical challenge” for the College, but said similar numbers were managed in 2017 and 2018.
It is understood that Commissioner Drew Harris made the case for 800 recruits to catch up after the Covid-related recruitment slowdown.
The enlarged recruitment for 2022 is also factoring in retirement levels, which have been running at over 400 gardaí, on average, per year over the last six years.
Welcoming the budget, Justice Minister Heather Humphreys said: “While Covid caused the temporary closure of the Garda training college at Templemore, I am delighted that the recruitment of trainees has resumed during 2021, and the funding announced today will allow us to regain ground lost during Covid and recruit 800 gardaí in 2022.”
Budget 2022 sees the overall Justice allocation rise to €3.1 billion, comprising €2.86 in current expenditure and €270m in capital funding. A further €20m current funding is being provided for Covid specific measures.
Minister Humphreys welcomed the additional funding of €145 million – representing an increase of over 5% on the allocation for 2021 and bringing the total funding for the Justice Sector in 2022 to €3.153 billion.
Of the funding, just over €2bn is being provided to An Garda Síochána in 2022, compared to €1.95bn this year.
- €28.1m additional funding is being provided for the recruitment of 800 trainee gardaí and 400 garda staff;
- €10.5m additional funding for Garda operational expenditure, including provisions for the Garda National Protective Services Bureau, tasked with investigation sexual crimes, domestic violence and human trafficking, as well as equipment for specialist garda units and mobile devices for gardaí.
Minister Humphreys said that, in total, a fund of €13m was being provided to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
She said €5.2 million in increased funding was for victims, including vulnerable witnesses, and to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence – including improvements to Garda Divisional Protective Services Units (DPSUs).
Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Hildegarde Naughton, said: “This will give us an overall fund of €13 million to help tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, including an extra €1 million to improve An Garda Síochána’s Divisional Protective Services Units."
An additional €3.3m is being allocated to the Legal Aid Board, including legal advice and legal aid service to victims of sexual offences.
The Garda Mountain Bike Unit will have funding for 100 additional mountain bikes.
Building on announcements earlier in the year, an initial fund of €2m is being provided for a new Community Safety Innovation Fund, aimed at putting back monies seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau into communities affected by the drugs trade.
Minister Humphreys said three pilot Community Safety Partnerships which can apply for the fund, have been established in Longford, Waterford, and Dublin’s north inner city.
- €900,000 for the Criminal Assets Bureau - total allocation €10.9 million;
- €2.1m for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission - total allocation €13.4 million;
- €400,000 for the Inspector of Prisons resources - total allocation €2.35 million;
- €400,000 for the Parole Board - total allocation €1.74m Total funding of €401m is allocated to the Prison Service, €164m to the Courts Service, almost €500m for the Department of Justice, almost €4m for the Policing Authority and €23m for the Data Protection Commission (DPC).
The extra €4.1m for the DPC is to allow for additional specialist and technical staff to meet the expansion of its regulatory functions, its increased workload and complexity of cases.
The budget sees an investment of an additional €850,000 in psychology services in prisons for prisoners with mental illness and addiction issues, with the recruitment of psychologists and specialist mental health nurses.
An additional €200,000 is being provided for psychologists to engage with people convicted of sexual violence offences.
A further €1m will go to hiring doctors, nurses and other staff in the prison healthcare service.
A total of €6.7m is allocated for the implementation of the recently published Youth Justice Strategy, including programmes and early interventions.
Minister of State at the Department of Justice, James Browne, said: "The increase of €6.7m brings the funding available in 2022 to support the Youth Justice Strategy to over €21 million.
"This is crucial to delivering practical early interventions for children and young people. As we know from the evidence, this is critical to preventing the exploitation of children by criminal groups.”
Some €1.2m is being provided for staffing in the International Protection Office and an additional €1.2m is allocated to help introduce a regularisation programme for undocumented migrants.
Some €800,000 is being provided to the judiciary in terms of the hiring of additional support staff.
In terms of capital funding, €39m is being allocated to complete the troubled new Garda headquarters in Military Road, near Phoenix Park.
Some €25m is to complete the new Forensic Science Ireland laboratory at Backweston, Co Kildare, while €10m is being allocated to complete works at Limerick Prison.
Monies are being provided to improve cyber security in the area, including €450,000 in the Prison Service and €300,000 in the Courts.
In the main budget for cyber security, the Department of Communications confirmed increased spending of €2.5m towards the National Cyber Security Centre to enable the hiring of 25 staff, to bring its complement to 45.
The funding will also enable a start on moving the centre to a permanent 'state-of-the-art' secure premises, including a Joint Security Operations Centre.
The budget of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission increased from €7m to €7.6m.
Under the Department of the Taoiseach, funding for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions rose from €45.5m to €48m, while the allocation to the Chief State Solicitors Office increased from €38.5m to €42.95m.
Elsewhere the so-called ‘Secret Service’ fund again remained at €2m.
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