I welcome the opportunity to appear before the select committee as it considers the Estimates for my Department's group of Votes.
Today's discussion will, no doubt, be influenced by the new approach which the Government has adopted in submitting departmental spending plans for Oireachtas scrutiny. This new format will be an aid to understanding and analysing the return from public expenditure but its novelty should not mask the underlying continuity of the investment made in the justice and equality sector over recent years.
The format may be different but what stands out very clearly from the figures is the extent to which the 2007 Estimates build on the investment of previous years. It is worth pausing to recall the scale of that investment. The total gross financial provision across the justice Votes has increased by €830 million since 2002, an increase of more than 50%. More than €500 million of that additional gross expenditure has been on the Garda Vote alone. This investment has made possible a whole spectrum of significant achievements, notably the expansion in Garda numbers, the provision of additional prison spaces, improvement of court facilities, extensive funding in the equality sector and the development of immigration and asylum services.
Landmark institutional developments have also been made possible using this funding. New organisations have been put in place since 2002 and given the resources to tackle difficult issues. These include the Irish Youth Justice Service, the Garda Inspectorate, the Garda Ombudsman Commission and the Private Security Authority. Others are either in development or, in the case of the National Property Services Regulatory Authority, established on an interim footing. The 2007 Estimates provision is the latest instalment in this story and, with a total gross allocation for the sector of €2.4 billion, is up 10% on the 2006 figure.
Rather than solely submitting details of the five individual Votes, as in previous years, the new approach to this process adds to this information by accounting for the Department's activity across nine core programmes or pillars. This has been documented in a departmental Output Statement which has been submitted to the committee. The Output Statement takes one through each of the programme areas, identifying the planned expenditure broken down into programme and administrative outlay and also setting out the number of staff employed under each heading. A number of key high level outputs for 2007 are shown under each programme, as is the expected impact of these outputs over the next few years. Of course these are not the only outputs or impacts which will be delivered but they do represent priority areas on our list of objectives.
Our intention is that this new approach will lead to an enhanced focus on the outcomes of departmental spending with consequential improvements in transparency, accountability and value for money. The process is expected to become more sophisticated as it embeds in all Departments and once it has been in operation for a number of years it should be possible to better judge whether planned expenditure has delivered the promised outcomes and had the desired impacts. Incidentally, had the technique been in place over the past few years, I do not doubt that the findings would reflect well on what has been achieved over that time.
The Output Statement speaks for itself in many respects but I would like to highlight a number of items which I know will be of particular interest to the committee.
Beginning with the policing and anti-crime measures, the €1.4 billion provided illustrates the commitment to resourcing security and law enforcement in our community. At the heart of this is the Government's programme to increase the strength of the Garda Síochána, which has been stepped up to include a further increase of 1,000, to 15,000 over the next three years. The facts on the ground will speak for themselves and silence the sniping around this programme. More than 275 fully trained gardaí will graduate every quarter during 2007, giving the Commissioner the resources to focus on highly visible policing throughout the country. The Garda traffic corps, in particular, will reach 1,000 in number by the end of the year, doubling its strength since 2005. The Government has also approved an additional 300 civilian administrative support positions within the Garda Síochána which will further accelerate the release of gardaí for frontline operational duties.
The support facilities are also being constantly developed. The budget for maintenance works on Garda stations is up by €2.1 million to €8.36 million in 2007 and will head off the problems which can give rise to unsuitable working conditions in local Garda stations. Expenditure on the Garda IT infrastructure has also been increased, as is the funding for communications and community protection equipment, which is up 32%.
The year 2007 also sees the beginning of the roll-out of the new national digital radio service and I was pleased to be able to announce the preferred bidder for this project earlier this week. The new facility will provide a secure radio communications service that is effective, resilient and reliable. It will also open up opportunities for innovative and improved means of managing Garda communications, as well as for enhanced operational communications with other emergency services. Furthermore, it is interoperable with the PSNI's system. These figures bear out the message I have been constantly emphasising that we continue to provide record resources to tackle crime and enhance community safety. These resources will be deployed by the Garda Commissioner to give effect to the annual policing plan and their success will be measurable against the targets set out in that plan.
The headline item in the prisons area is the prison building programme. Funding is included to cover the initial site works for the Thornton Hall project, and I expect to be in a position to announce the successful PPP tender in the next few weeks. Thornton Hall will provide accommodation for more than 1,400 offenders and greatly improve the rehabilitation and other facilities. By making it possible to close Mountjoy Prison and move to a new generation of offender management facilities, this project will stand as one of the landmark achievements of the Government in the field of criminal justice. More immediately, the 2007 funding will also allow for the completion of expansion projects at Portlaoise, Castlerea, Loughan House and Shelton Abbey, which together will provide an additional 313 spaces for the system. Those works are well in hand and some are nearing completion.
Capital investment also stands out in the funding for the Courts Service. Almost €30 million will be available for major refurbishment works, as well as more than €10 million for less significant repairs. The highlight, however, will be the commencement of construction of the new criminal courts complex, which is a PPP project. This is perhaps the most significant physical development within the court system since the Four Courts were brought into operation after the foundation of the State.
A specific programme heading has also been included to reflect the Department's objective of promoting a more tolerant and equal society. This captures activity dealing with issues in the equality sector, including the specific areas of gender, disability and interculturalism. Programme funding of €36 million is being made available to support these objectives in 2007. This area will also benefit considerably on a rolling basis under the National Development Plan 2007-13. For example, €58.64 million is to be spent under the plan on implementing the national women's strategy, which is due to be published shortly. Some €21 million is also allocated under the NDP for measures to tackle domestic violence. This is another area where a new approach is envisaged. My Department is working to implement innovative proposals to this end, which I plan to announce in the near future.
In regard to immigration and asylum, the total gross provision for the year is €146 million. However, this is only a fraction of annual State spending in this area. Included in that provision is a sum of €12.5 million for three major IT projects designed to upgrade and enhance our visa, immigration, asylum and identification systems. These projects will significantly enhance the capacity of the immigration services to tackle clandestine entry. In addition, they will improve customer service delivery and enable speedier decisions to be made in respect of immigration applications. The investment in new technology will be complemented by a new immigration, residence and protection Bill that will consolidate the legislation in this field and provide for further developments to take account of this increasingly complex field of public policy. I hope to publish this Bill in the next few days.
We all appreciate that an important element of how we face up to the challenges presented by immigration is far-sighted management of the integration of long-term legal migrants. A comprehensive programme of dialogue with stakeholders is under way on this front, and last month featured a major conference on the subject. While other Departments will in the main be responsible for delivering integration services, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform will provide overall policy development and co-ordination. A dedicated integration unit will ensure key strategic issues such as language training, funding of community groups and the provision of information to migrants are addressed on a cross-cutting basis.
I already mentioned the establishment of the youth justice service as one of the key achievements of the past five years. Its significance merits a distinct programme within the Department's output statement. The service's primary role is to develop effective responses to juvenile crime. During 2007, a national youth justice strategy will be developed to chart how the Department will carry out its new responsibilities in this field.
As of 1 March, the new service has already assumed responsibility for the State's detention schools, and €16.4 million has been allocated for their operation. This is in addition to the €21.6 million allocated for the new youth justice service itself, which includes substantial capital funding. These combined resources will enable a badly needed programme of rejuvenation of youth detention and training facilities to be commenced in 2007.
The new service is also committed to the continued development and expansion of Garda youth diversion projects, and the budget for these has been increased to €9.8 million — an increase of 48% — in 2007. The target is to increase the number of programmes from 84 to 100 by the end of the year. This is another area where substantial further funding has been planned under the NDP, reflecting my strong belief that detention should be a measure of last resort for young offenders and that early and effective investment will be money well spent.
The final programme area I will mention is that relating to the Property Registration Authority. This body, which took over responsibility for the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds last year on foot of the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006, also represents one of the important institutional developments of the past five years. The new body will carry forward the impressive achievements of the Land Registry in respect of the digital mapping project and in responding to the demands of the buoyant property market. It has also been charged with modernising and extending the registration of ownership of land.
The reforms to the land registration system contained in the new Act represent the most significant reform of the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds since the foundation of the State and are intended to simplify the procedures involved in buying and selling land and to reduce the delays and extra costs that frequently arise in land transactions. They will also pave the way for a system of e-conveyancing of property that will revolutionise the conveyancing process for the benefit of private individuals and business alike.
The chairman of the new authority is of the view that we should consider copying what has been done in Northern Ireland, where solicitors must henceforth oversee the paperwork and effect a first-time registration in respect of land that was not previously registered.