BUDGET 2016: Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald wants force to pass 14,000

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said an additional 600 garda recruits next year will bring the strength of the force to more than 13,000 — and said she wanted it to reach 14,000 in the coming years.

And she said there would be a specific budget — to be announced soon — for special operations to target marauding criminal gangs involved in burglaries.

She announced an increase of €89m in the Department of Justice’s current expenditure — some €67m of which goes to An Garda Síochána.