The Government has been forced to increase Garda overtime again for next year as the force struggles to keep pace with growing policing demands. Recruitment has remained sluggish two years after it resumed in the aftermath of the pandemic.
The allocation for overtime will increase by €17.6 million next year, to €149m. It means that over the course of this year and next year, the Garda’s allocation for overtime will have increased by almost 50 per cent.
Overall, spending on the Garda – including salaries and pensions – will reach €2.48 billion next year, up from €2.31 billion in the current year. And across the justice area, spending is set to increase to €3.92 billion, including on prisons, the courts, a domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said her priority was “building stronger, safer communities” and she believed the increased allocation across her portfolio would achieve that goal.
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“This budget provides investment across the entire criminal justice system, including the courts and the prisons and builds on a robust programme of new laws and policy delivery, along with significant capital investments in technology, equipment, and buildings,” she said.
“More gardaí on the streets means more visible policing across Ireland. The increased budget for Garda overtime will ensure that cities, towns, and rural communities continue to benefit from enhanced visibility and public safety.”
The Department said some of the additional funding would provide for the recruitment of “between 800 and 1,000″ new gardaí. These recruits would be paid an increased weekly training allowance of €354, almost double what it was last year.
However, the same pledge of recruiting up to 1,000 new Garda members in the current year was also made 12 months ago and targets will not be met by year end as Garda recruitment has remained sluggish.
A total of 150 Garda civilian staff will also be hired, including those with specialist ICT skills and others for administrative posts, to free up desk-bound gardaí for frontline duties.
Some €5m has been provided for Public Order Units, including two new water cannons, crowd control barriers, an expansion of the dog unit and more body armour.
Funding to enhance road safety amounts of €9 million, including more speed cameras.
Some €100m is being provided for ICT, which includes rolling out body-worn cameras and the related digital evidence management system, as well as the introduction of facial recognition technology.
Also in the justice allocation in Budget 2025, the Irish Prison Service will receive a €37.6 million boost to meet the costs of an additional 200 staff recruited in 2024 and to facilitate 150 new prison officers being hired next year.
Further investments include €7.9m for initiatives to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, bringing annual spending in that area up to €70m.
An additional €3.2m has been allocated to youth justice interventions, meaning spending on the Youth Justice Strategy will reach €33m next year.
An extra €6.1m has been allocated to the Courts Service to recruit an additional 50 staff.
Ms McEntee said it was “essential that we increase overall capacity within the Irish Prison Service”, adding the allocation of €53 million in capital funding for the service would create an additional 1,000 prison spaces.
There was also extra funding of €4 million for the Probation Service to “offer cost effective alternatives to prison”. Some of this funding would also be used to help those currently in prison return to the community.
