Today we are dealing with Supplementary Estimates for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform as referred by the Dáil. As our time is constrained, I propose to proceed at a brisk pace. I remind members that the Estimates are supplementary rather than representative of the Estimates in their totality, and they involve only a few bob. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey, and his officials. We will deal with Vote 19 — Office of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Vote 20 — Garda Síochána, Vote 22 — Courts Service and Vote 23 — Land Registry and Registry of Deeds. A briefing note containing details of the Supplementary Estimates has been circulated to members.
Estimates for Public Services 2004.
The purpose of this morning's meetings is to seek the authority of the committee for a net Supplementary Estimate of €14.813 million in the departmental, Garda, courts and registries Votes. No additional moneys are sought for the prisons Vote. The net additional amount sought by way of Supplementary Estimate represents 0.8% of the original Estimate for the justice Vote group of €1.840 billion. The gross amount sought for the departmental, Garda, courts and registries Votes is €23.41 million. When savings of €8.6 million on the prison Vote are offset against the total, a net Exchequer requirement of €14.813 million remains. An additional €7.662 million is sought in the Vote for the Minister's office, €14.85 million for the Garda Vote, €900,000 for the registries and a technical, token amount of €1,000 for the courts Vote. The token sum is aimed to enable additional appropriations-in-aid to offset small overruns under the spending subheads of the courts Vote.
The net additional sum of €7.662 million for the Office of the Minister is required to meet additional expenditure on subhead B.1, commissions, special inquiries; subhead D.4, asylum recoupment to local authorities; and subhead G1.4, the Private Security Authority. The total gross additional amount of €18.827 million is offset by savings of €1 million on subhead B.4, independent international commission, €500,000 on the International Monitoring Commission and €3.996 million on the asylum seekers task force under subhead D.1. There are savings of €1.215 million under subhead E.7, gender mainstreaming and positive action for women and of €954,000 under subhead G.9, compensation for criminally inflicted personal injuries. These savings and adding surplus appropriations of €3.5 million mean the net additional requirement is €7.662 million.
Additional expenditure items in the Vote relate to additional costs associated with the Barr and Morris tribunals, which amount to €1.48 million, and the cost of the information campaign on the constitutional referendum on citizenship, which was €3.1 million. As members will know, the citizenship referendum was held in June when the Government's proposal received the support of almost 80% of the electorate. Prior to the referendum, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government issued an establishment order to set up an independent referendum commission for which the Government authorised the allocation of €4 million from my Department's Vote. This sum was provided to enable the commission to carry out its information campaign independently. My Department's function in the matter was to act as a conduit for the required funding with the expenditure itself being undertaken by the commission in the fulfilment of its responsibilities.
Further additional costs were incurred in the operation of the direct provision system to meet the accommodation and related needs of asylum seekers. These amounted to €14.246 million. The service is demand led. Approximately 6,500 asylum seekers were in receipt of direct provision in November 2004, by which time the numbers claiming asylum had fallen dramatically. The figure represents an increase of 53% in receipt of direct provision since January 2003. Increased occupancy of directly provided accommodation places put severe pressure on expenditure by the Reception and Integration Agency. The increased occupancy rate is mainly attributable to the withdrawal of rent supplements, which was a clear pull factor. The revised rent supplement provisions in the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 legally extinguished the right of asylum seekers to receive rent supplement. Prior to 2003, local authorities were responsible for making payments to the proprietors and operators of asylum seeker accommodation contracted by the Reception and Integration Agency. Such payments were recouped to the local authorities by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and through the homelessness Vote. In December 2002 the Cabinet committee on immigration and asylum decided that with effect from January 2003 the financial allocation should be transferred to this Department. It was subsequently discovered that €6 million in recoupments due to local authorities in 2002 had not been paid by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and would, therefore, fall to be paid from the budget of the Reception and Integration Agency, RIA.
It was decided in May 2004 that the RIA should assume responsibility on an agency basis for the Department of Social and Family Affairs for supporting the repatriation of destitute citizens of the ten new European Union member states who are disbarred from receiving social welfare payments as they cannot satisfy the habitual residency condition introduced in 2004. On foot of this decision, four departure centres were sourced by the RIA. It is estimated that costs of slightly more than €1 million will be incurred this year in running them, paying for flights and other associated costs.
As regards the establishment of the Private Security Authority, this is a technical measure to facilitate the establishment of the subhead for which a token amount of €1,000 is being provided. Members may be aware that this State body has been established, has its headquarters in Tipperary and that work is progressing on making it fully functional by a transition team drawn from staff of my Department.
I seek a net Supplementary Estimate of €14.85 million for the Garda Vote. The year-end outturn for the Vote is likely to be €43.15 million in excess of that provided in the original Estimate. However, this amount will be offset by savings on some subheads amounting to €19.9 million and additional receipts of approximately €8.4 million.
On subheads A.3, A.4, A.8 and B which concern incidental expenses, post and telecommunications, station services and clothing and accessories, I propose an increase of €3.75 million to cover additional expenditure on these areas. On subhead A.10, I seek to increase the provision by €24.5 million. The Garda Síochána was responsible for the policing and security of numerous events associated with Ireland's hosting of the EU Presidency. The 2004 Estimate provision for the hosting of the Presidency amounted to €12.473 million. This figure was made up of €8.473 million in subhead A.10 and a further €4 million in subhead A.1 for salaries etc. The policing of and security arrangements for events associated with the EU enlargement ceremony during the May Day weekend necessitated the deployment of a large number of Garda personnel, many of whom were from outside the Dublin metropolitan region. This resulted in higher than anticipated costs.
In March 2004 the Garda authorities were officially notified that President Bush was to visit Ireland to attend the EU-US summit to be held in the Clare region on 25 and 26 June 2004. Again, the policing and security of this event necessitated the deployment of a considerable number of Garda personnel in the Ennis-Shannon region. The costs associated with this visit were not provided for in the 2004 Estimates process and were borne by the Garda Vote.
On subhead D — transport — I seek to increase the provision by €1 million to provide for the purchase of additional vehicles for the Garda traffic corps. On subhead G — superannuation — I seek to increase the provision by €111.9 million to bring the full year figure to €194.958 million. This additional provision is to meet the cost of a higher than anticipated rate of retirements in the force. As members will be aware, members of the Garda Síochána may retire with full pension benefits at 50 years of age once they have completed 30 years of approved service. Members at sergeant and garda rank must retire at 57 years and at other ranks at 60 years. In 2004 it is estimated that there will be 321 voluntary and 84 compulsory retirements. Notwithstanding the number of retirements, I am pleased to be able to state that, at more than 12,200, the current strength of the force stands at an all-time high.
With regard to Garda resources generally, I am pleased the Government has approved the proposal to increase the strength of the Garda Síochána to 14,000 members on a phased basis in line with the commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government. This is a key commitment in the programme for Government and its implementation will significantly strengthen the operational capacity of the force.
I anticipate that savings will amount to €19.9 million made up of €6.6 million on salaries, €6.5 million on office machinery, €6.3 million on communications and the balance of €500,000 on the Garda SMI. In addition, I am allowing for the transfer of €8.4 million from unanticipated receipts to the appropriations subhead. When these savings and additional receipts totalling €28.3 million are offset against overruns of €43.15 million, the net additional amount sought in the Vote is €14.85 million.
With regard to Vote 22 — the Courts Service, what I propose is a technical Supplementary Estimate of €1,000 which will enable surplus receipts of €916,000 to be used to offset overruns on some subheads. The subheads in question are salaries, wages and allowances, travel and subsistence and office premises expenses.
On subhead A.1 — salaries, wages and allowances — expenditure has exceeded the estimated amount by €917,000, primarily due to the need to retain temporary and contract staff to support the implementation of major IT projects such as the roll-out of the criminal case tracking system to all District Court offices during the year and other systems implementation during 2004. The criminal case tracking system is an essential element in the full implementation of the penalty points system.
On subhead A.2 — travel and subsistence — expenditure has exceeded the estimated amount by €909,000. There was increased expenditure due to an increase in the number of court sittings and activity related to IT systems implementation.
On subhead A.6 — office premises expenses — the additional funding of €1.725 million is primarily sought to fund minor maintenance and facilities management works as a result of newly refurbished county town venues. In addition to the surplus receipts of €916,000 to which I referred, I anticipate savings of €570,000 on subhead A.3 — incidental expenses — and €2.064 million on subhead A.5 — office machinery.
With regard to Vote 23 — Land Registry and Registry of Deeds, I seek a Supplementary Estimate of €900,000 which will increase the total provision for 2004 from €32.658 million to €33.558 million. The bulk of the additional provision is required for two areas. A sum of €570,000 is required for subhead A.1 — salaries, wages and allowances — while €320,000 is required for subhead A.3 — incidental expenses. The additional expenditure in subhead A.3 is incurred due to under-provision for license fees for the use of Ordnance Survey maps.
As members are aware, activity in the property market remains buoyant. This gives rise to increased pressures on the services provided by the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds. By way of detail, the number of applications for registrations dealt with by the Land Registry during 2004 increased by 16%, from 160,000 to 186,000, for the period up to 30 November. The work of the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds is labour intensive, with 75% of all expenditure allocated to salaries. As it happens, 2004 was an exceptional year for salaries. The high level of activity in the area of registration, coupled with the fact that salaries represent the major element of expenditure for the registries, meant it was not possible to fully offset this additional liability from savings on other subheads within the Vote.
With regard to Vote 21 — Prisons, no Supplementary Estimate is sought. I commend these proposals to the select committee.
I understand there are time pressures but there are a couple of issues on which we need to focus. I find these Supplementary Estimates disturbing. At the outset I will focus on the Estimates relating to the Garda Síochána. This confirms my worst suspicions in regard to Garda numbers. Savings of €6.6 million were made on salaries, which indicates there is no foundation whatsoever for all the Minister's talk about increased numbers. The figures confirm that well over the halfway stage of the Government's term of office, instead of having an extra 2,000 gardaí on our streets, there are no more than 200 extra gardaí.
Even worse, apart from the delay in a proper recruitment programme or an increase in the capacity of Templemore, many gardaí are leaving the force. More than 400 gardaí retired this year but most significant is that 321 of those are voluntary retirements. We need to examine why that is happening. The picture we get gives the lie to the presentation of the matter by the Minister, Deputy McDowell, in regard to substantial increases in the number of gardaí on the streets and all such pronouncements by him.
Another aspect of the Estimates which is of great concern is the savings on office machinery and communications. Over €12 million has been saved. How can the Government justify that saving on the Garda Síochána Vote, given that gardaí are operating with 20 year old walkie-talkie equipment that does not work half the time, resulting in gardaí being left on their own in many difficult and serious circumstances due to the lack of communication backup? That is most unfair to the Garda force. Agreement has been reached on the preferred communications system, yet the Government has not provided the money to roll out that system. It is absolutely outrageous.
Those are the two main issues in regard to the Garda Síochána group of Votes but I will touch on a couple of other aspects. The Minister sought over €3 million in a Supplementary Estimate for costs in regard to the constitutional referendum on citizenship. I will not address the substantive issue of the referendum but it is clear confirmation that the referendum was rushed. It was not even provided for at the time of the original Estimates and we have to pick up the tab by way of a Supplementary Estimate. This is another symptom of the rushed way the referendum was put through. It was unplanned and no financial provision was made for it.
Another issue arises in regard to subhead A10, the EU Presidency, namely, the lack of Garda overtime throughout the year and the fact that even though there was an announcement by the Minister of some funding being available at the end of the year, in effect, because of under-provision there was insufficient money available for overtime through the main part of the year, especially in the second half, because of the expenditure that arose, in particular from the lack of proper provision for the visit of President Bush.
In regard to the Supplementary Estimate for the Land Registry, will the Minister of State bring to the attention of the Minister a proposal from somebody who dealt with the Land Registry in his professional life for many years? The Land Registry is a paying operation which makes a surplus. It is utterly ridiculous that we are providing Supplementary Estimates for the Land Registry when all the fees that go into the Land Registry from every transaction are swiped back into the maw of the Exchequer. The Land Registry generates more than adequate funding from the fees associated with the 186,000 transactions that have been lodged with it to properly fund itself. It is restricted by red tape and State bureaucracy from giving the efficient service it could give if it were allowed to operate on a stand-alone basis. It is doing the best it can but we should allow it to operate fully on a stand-alone basis, especially given that, despite the way it is presented in these Estimates, it is no draw on the taxpayer. It makes a profit that is swiped by the Exchequer.
I promised I would restrain myself this morning and I do so with difficulty. I reserve my further comments for another occasion.
I, too, will be brief. The disappointing aspect of the Estimates and Supplementary Estimates is that the Minister has made great public utterances on the recruitment of 2,000 extra gardaí but there is nothing to suggest there will be extra expenditure.
The Minister also made a statement as recently as last week that he would provide a €100 million development plan for new equipment for the Garda, a state-of-the-art TETRA system, but there is no indication of a commencement date. He referred to many things that will be done but there is nothing in the Estimates to indicate there is movement on them. The Minister also referred to new prisons but there is no reference to this in the Estimates. The Private Security Authority, a body that will be responsible for regulating 26,000 people in the private security industry, is getting a mere €1,000. Does the Minister intend the 11 member authority to get anything at all done in the course of the year? I would welcome a response to this point. Likewise, €1,000 is provided in the original Estimate for the Ombudsman. I think the Ombudsman also received €1,000 last year. These are token amounts which indicate that nothing is being done. A great deal has been promised but very little is being delivered.
I consider it strange that there should be a Supplementary Estimate so shortly after an Estimate. How in God's name can one not find out what amount, for example, would be spent on the constitutional referendum? Why should it appear now in a Supplementary Estimate at a cost of €3.1 million? These figures should have come in already. How can the Minister not know what was spent on security for the visit of President George Bush or on the European Union Presidency?
Similarly, how can he not know the expense incurred by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in regard to direct provision? Was it suddenly discovered that local authorities owed approximately €6 million, for which the Department had not budgeted? Surely this would have appeared in the figures for the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and would have been dealt with in the Estimate? What figure was spent on direct provision? Was it €14.246 million as the Estimate appears to suggest? How could that be spent if numbers have declined so much? Is it not because there has been a backlog and no movement in processing the numbers by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and that people involved in direct provision were left there for years on end awaiting completion of the process? It should not appear in a Supplementary Estimate and we should be made aware of it in the appropriate way.
Why is there €1.48 million outstanding in respect of the Morris and Barr tribunals? These tribunals are ongoing and have not come out of the blue, therefore I cannot understand why they should be the subject of a Supplementary Estimate.
A substantial increase, amounting to €11.9 million, is sought in respect of superannuation for the Garda. What is the position on the Garda superannuation fund? Is the €11.9 million an unanticipated shortfall arising from investment decisions, for example? We hear so much about a shortfall in superannuation funds in general nowadays.
It seems strange that there is €8.4 million in unanticipated receipts under the Garda Vote. Only some weeks ago, the Minister announced that he had found the money for payment of overtime for two months. This money also derived from unanticipated receipts. The accounting process seems to leave a lot to be desired in terms of when the availability of moneys becomes known, whether another Department is keeping in contact with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and how the latter Department incurs a charge for which another Department should properly be responsible.
A sum of €52.3 million was garnered from the sale of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Did the money received go straight to the Office of Public Works or to the Department of Finance?
Was the whole Department sold?
I refer to the headquarters of the Minister.
Was the Minister not included in the sale?
I hope George Soros was on the ball.
I hope it has not been salted away——
A knock-down sale——
——down in Roosky or in an offshore account. I gather that €52 million was garnered from the sale of the offices in St. Stephen's Green. Is all this money transferred straight away to the Exchequer?
I apologise for being late, I got stuck in traffic on the way. I saw many gardaí on the way from Marino and along O'Connell Street this morning. Therefore, there must be something going on.
There was a large number of gardaí whisking the traffic in.
The Minister stated there were approximately 6,500 asylum seekers in direct provision in November 2004. Is this the officially recognised figure?
I welcome the Minister and his staff. On subhead D pertaining to transport, the Minister referred to the purchase of additional vehicles for the Garda traffic corps. Will he elaborate on that? Let us be absolutely honest that the standard of vehicles used by the Garda is inadequate, particularly given that they must pursue joyriders in squad cars with 1.4 litre engines. The vehicles should have two litre engines and all the reinforcements that are standard in many other European countries. We put this to the Minister, Deputy McDowell, before and I hope he listened to us. I also hope he listened to the GRA regarding its proposal to enhance the standard of vehicle that is currently in use. Improvements must be made.
I welcome the proposals to provide an additional 2,000 gardaí. We welcome the efforts being made by gardaí in Thurles and Templemore and by the Department to provide the necessary accommodation and facilities for the new recruits. I ask that due regard be given in the Estimates to the staff of Templemore college, particularly the domestic and cleaning staff, who will have to cater for the additional recruits. The latter will use the facilities of the college as part of their training programme before the four-storey block is built on the site.
It is very important that, arising from the negotiations between the Department and the Garda Commissioner, a large number of the 2,000 additional recruits are sent to rural areas. I come from the largely rural constituency of Tipperary North and contend that those who live in rural areas are equally entitled to the protection and services of the Garda as those who live in cities. The deficit in rural areas is clearly recognised. Rural areas have traditionally had a low crime level because of the presence of gardaí, but because their presence has decreased in small rural towns, crime and the drugs problem have crept in.
I thank members of the committee for their contributions and questions, which I will attempt to answer to the best of my ability. On the question of Garda salaries, it is important to point out that while there were some savings in Garda pay during the year, a significant high profile policing initiative was launched by the Minister towards the end of the year. It was generally accepted as very successful and an additional €4 million was made available.
It is not correct to say there is wholesale retirement from the Garda. The number of retirements in the past year is only slightly higher than that in previous years. Gardaí have opted for voluntary retirement for many years and there is nothing unusual about this.
It is important to state that the Referendum Commission is an independent body and the Department simply pays its bills. Extra demands were made as a result of the Supreme Court decision and it is simply a question of paying the money. The independence of the commission was welcomed right across the political spectrum, as was the work it did in respect of the recent referendum.
The profit of the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds goes directly to the Department of Finance and, consequently, there is no question of its being available to this Department.
Extra recruitment was referred to by Deputy Costello. This has not taken place at the speed everybody expected. However, it is provided for in the current Estimates.
Three years on.
That is the reality and there is no point in fooling anybody about it. Provision has been made in the Estimates for next year. There will be an increase of 600 to 1,100 in the number of gardaí in training in Templemore each year for the next three years. This will bring Garda numbers——
Where will the Department put them?
Provision is being made for their training, which is in train. It will bring Garda numbers up to the strength which was promised by the Minister and is being provided for in the Estimates, which have just been passed.
The allocation of €1,000 is simply a token Estimate, it is a technical issue. A sum of €1 million has been provided in this year's Estimate for the establishment of the agency in Tipperary. That work is going ahead apace and the provision of €1,000 is purely a technical issue.
The main savings in the money allocated for asylum seekers are from the budget of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. As a result of the savings of €30 million or €40 million, we have an extra amount of money which we have to provide for. The only reason it is included as a Supplementary Estimate is that the figure was not known to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and consequently did not become known to our Department until a point at which it was not possible to include it in the Estimates. Therefore, it is now provided for in the Supplementary Estimates.
Is the figure of 6,500 the total number who are in the asylum process at the moment? Are they all in direct provision?
Some 6,500 people are now in direct provision. There are significant overall savings as a result of the changes, from people being in a position to acquire their own accommodation and so on. These people are all under direct provision and there is a significant overall saving to the State. The figure of €6 million, which has emerged from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, is purely a bill which is passed on to us, which we must now include in the Supplementary Estimate.
Deputy Costello referred to the need in the Supplementary Estimates for the overall provision for Garda pay. The visit of President Bush was not announced until March of last year and, consequently, it would have been impossible to include the very significant extra resources which were required for the visit. The only way of dealing with that extra expenditure is by way of this Supplementary Estimate — there is no way around it.
Legal fees which occurred last year in respect of the Morris and Barr tribunals were only submitted this year and, consequently, could not have been provided for in the original Estimate and are now provided for in the Supplementary Estimate. The saving of €8.4 million, to which Deputy Costello referred, comes from a variety of areas under appropriations-in-aid. The subhead covers contributions from the Garda Síochána spouses' and children's pension scheme, contributions to the Garda Síochána pension scheme and other miscellaneous receipts for non-public duty as well as greater efficiency in the collection of fees for concerts and other events and better arrangements in respect of the collection of fees from banks for escort services.
The main reason for the increased projected outturn is pension contributions, which have again increased in line with pay increases. A sum of €1.87 million will accrue in respect of the increased contributions to the widows and orphans scheme, savings of €5.03 million will accrue in respect of pension deductions and there are miscellaneous receipts which will yield savings of approximately €1.5 million. That is how we have arrived at the figure of €8.4 million.
The €53 million from the OPW, to which Deputy Costello referred, unfortunately went to the Department of Finance so there was no gain there. In response to Deputy Finian McGrath's question, 6,500 people are now in direct provision. All the people involved in administering the direct provision arrangements in the Department and the RIA are to be congratulated for their efficiency. A very heavy workload has been undertaken by staff in the Department and the RIA and it is appropriate that we thank them for the very fine job of work they have done under considerable pressure in recent years.
Deputy Hoctor referred to the question of the safety of Garda vehicles. I will give a comprehensive reply to this question during Question Time today, when I will deal with the issue in greater detail. This issue was raised by the committee on 16 June when the Minister dealt with it. The point made by the Deputy is acknowledged and questions of safety arise in regard to the different types of vehicles being provided. While some vehicles have a low engine rating, many other high-powered vehicles are used in the appropriate manner in some of the instances to which the Deputy referred.
Additional funding has been made available this year for the purchase of 382 vehicles, approximately 100 of which are allocated to the traffic corps to support the road safety initiative and deal with issues such as joyriding and so on. Of the 382 vehicles referred to, approximately 60 have been received and are being fitted out and others are arriving on a daily basis. There has been significant investment in the Garda fleet in the past few years which has resulted in the increase in the size of the fleet from 1,898 vehicles at the end of 1997 to 2,076 vehicles at present, an increase of more than 9.4%.
The average age of the Garda fleet is little more than two years, which is a big improvement from the previous position. While there are cars in excess of this average age, the older models are not in use as patrol cars. However, I agree with the Deputy that in some parts of rural Ireland, one can still see clapped-out Garda vehicles. Every effort is being made by the Garda authorities and the Department to ensure we come up to speed in respect of all those vehicles. The extra expenditure and investment will ensure that the outstanding difficulties are being addressed. I will bring the committee's comments to the Minister's attention and I am sure the officials who are with me are listening carefully to what members have had to say in that respect.
From my point of view, there has been a major improvement in regard to the policing of rural areas. The response to crime and difficulties in rural areas has been significant, which is to be seen in the facts and figures that demonstrate a reduction in crime in rural areas, in particular attacks on old people. It is accepted that there is such crime. The Garda Commissioner and Garda authorities are most anxious to ensure that there is a proper response to crime in rural areas. I am quite happy to take that up further with the Minister.
The Minister has justified pulling €19.9 million in savings out of the Garda Vote. In a situation where there are not enough gardaí, there is a saving on salaries and there is not proper office machinery or communications equipment. I mentioned the 20 year old walkie-talkies. What is the justification for the Government taking €20 million in savings from the Garda Vote? On the other hand, the Minister, parading himself, announced that after cutting back on overtime for the past six months he will make €4 million of that money available for overtime. This is no way to run a force.
I absolutely agree with Deputy O'Keeffe. The original estimate for the EU Presidency and the visit of President Bush was more than €8 million and the revised estimate was €32 million, an additional €24.5 million. How incredibly wrong can one be?
No marks for arithmetic there.
There were unanticipated receipts in the Garda Vote. How could such a mistake be made or how could there be such a divergence in the cost of the exercise?
May I deal with those two questions?
I want to let Deputy Hoctor ask a final question because time is not on our side.
I want to return to the issue of the additional staffing for the regular maintenance and cleaning of the Garda college in view of the additional numbers of people using it. I welcome what has happened there but there is a need for back-up domestic staff to maintain the buildings and facilities.
The three issues are communications, the US visit and Templemore cleaning.
There is a simple answer to Deputy Costello's question. The Bush visit was not anticipated.
How much did the Bush visit cost?
Some €8 million. The May Day celebrations were a significant event, considering the threat to European institutions following the Madrid bombings and other issues.
They were hugely successful celebrations.
Very successful. Deputy Costello would be the first to jump up and down if there were breaches of security. It was necessary to take preventative measures.
I am merely saying they should have been able to anticipate the cost of €32 million.
It was necessary to anticipate and to put in place very significant resources for the Bush visit and for the May Day celebrations. There is no mystery about where the money went.
What about the communications question from Deputy O'Keeffe?
It is entirely wrong of Deputy O'Keeffe to state that €20 million is being taken out. In fact, an extra €43 million is being put in place.
What about the Minister of State's speech, on the savings side?
There is a good list in front of me, into which I will not go in detail, on those savings such as the CCTV systems, the putting into place of which has been much slower than anticipated. These issues are being addressed by the Garda. Often the wholesale delay of CCTV was a problem, not of the Garda's making but rather of local planning difficulties in towns and cities across the country.
Will the digital communication system be put in place shortly?
Yes. The digital radio project will proceed in 2005. The adequacy of funds is a matter for the 2005 Estimates.
That was five years ago.
It will be provided for.
Finally, what of the staffing in Templemore?
The staffing in Templemore is a question we will take up with the Commissioner. The Deputy can be assured that there will be adequate provision for the extra gardaí who are going there.
I take this opportunity to thank the Garda for the outstanding service provided over the past 12 months. It was a time of many major events and extra pressures on the force. It is appropriate that we should take this opportunity to thank the Garda for the outstanding service provided.
The committee concurs with those remarks.
The best way to thank them is to give them adequate numbers and equipment and the Government has not done that either.