Members of the committee will be aware, from the briefing material to which you referred, Chairman, that the purpose of this meeting is to move a technical Supplementary Estimate to cover additional expenditure incurred this year by the Garda Síochána, the Courts Service and certain services administered and paid for through the Vote of the Office of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
I will return in a few moments to the specific details in each of the three Votes in question, but first I want to emphasise that the business we are about today is in respect of a technical Supplementary Estimate. Unlike in other years and, I believe, in each of the past seven years, I am not seeking additional funding by way of a Supplementary Estimate other than a token €1,000 as a technical device for any of the Votes in the justice sector. I am, however, seeking the approval of the Dáil to use additional appropriations-in-aid to what was budgeted for and to use underspends on some other subheads to off-set additional expenditure items on the justice, Garda and Courts Service Votes.
The net effect of my proposal is that the additional expenditure is being met from within the Vote group financial envelope decided upon this time last year without recourse to an injection of external funding, which could only be achieved by the diversion of funding from some other area of the public service or by utilising revenue generated elsewhere in the public service. My proposal before the committee today to use surplus appropriations-in-aid as well as subhead underspends to fund expenditure shortfalls to cover certain items is entirely in keeping with what I believe is prudent financial management and the maintenance of a tight rein on public expenditure in all areas of the public service.
The response of the justice sector to that new financial reality has been in keeping with that throughout the rest of the public service. Quite clearly, the 20% year-on-year increase in public spending was unsustainable in any timeframe and the fact that the Government has succeeded in pegging increases in public spending at a more viable level has enabled us to put in place the building blocks for sustainable long-term economic growth and activity.
The measures put in place at the beginning of the year in my Department to closely monitor expenditure and expenditure patterns on a monthly basis have proven to be very effective, and I am grateful to all the officials who have participated in that. A significant element of this process is the involvement of heads of services such as the Garda Commissioner, the director general of the Prison Service and the chief executive officer of the Courts Service as well as top management of my own Department. While obviously each head of service was responsible for his own area, a broader approach which involved the management of expenditure on a monthly basis within the Vote group financial envelope was put in place by me back in January 2003. A key factor in this approach was maximum utilisation of the Department of Finance agreement that surplus appropriations-in-aid could, within limits, be used to fund shortfalls in spending subheads.
I turn now to the Votes and I will begin with that of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. At the outset, I am seeking approval for a token Supplementary Estimate of €1,000 to raise the overall Estimate of the Vote from €325.515 million to €325.516 million. Under subhead B of the Vote, I am seeking an additional €3.25 million. This subhead covers the costs of commissions and special inquiries and, in this case, the additional and unanticipated costs associated with the Donegal and Abbeylara tribunals, or the Morris and Barrtribunals as they are more colloquiallyknown.
On subhead C, criminal legal aid, I am seeking an additional €5 million to meet the full year anticipated cost of €35 million of providing this service. This is a demand driven item and the award of legal aid in criminal cases is entirely at the discretion of the courts. On subhead H, the Criminal Assets Bureau, I am seeking an additional €2.9 million to cover legal costs incurred by the bureau which may arise before the end of the year. On subhead I, the Independent Monitoring Commission, I am seeking a token €1,000 to enable me to open a new subhead to meet the costs of this new body in the forthcoming year. That is a purely technical measure to put this on the spreadsheet.
The commission arises out of the Good Friday Agreement and will monitor and report on the carrying out of the commitments relating to the ending of paramilitary activity and the programme for security normalisation in Northern Ireland as set out in the Joint Declaration between the two Governments. The Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003 is due to be considered in the Seanad later this week.
Finally, on the justice Vote I am seeking an additional €850,000 to make up a shortfall on subhead K, the grant-in-aid for the Legal Aid Board. This additional funding is required to make good a funding shortfall for the board which arose as a result of an accounting error. In addition to the funding provided in the Vote, the board also receives funding from contributions for the legal services it provides and can carry cash on hands forward from year to year. An error by the board in the carry forward to 2003 - an overstatement of the cash on hands - was not realised until commitments had been made. The provision of an additional €850,000 will rectify the position.
Taking the Vote as a whole, I am seeking an additional €12.001 million to be applied to the subheads as explained above. I am proposing that this additional sum be funded by the transfer of €4.4 million from subhead Z, appropriations-in-aid, that amount being the surplus appropriations. The remaining balance of €7.6 million will be met by lower than anticipated expenditure on other subheads in the Vote.
Turning to the Garda Vote, again I am seeking a Supplementary Estimate of €1,000 as a technical measure. On subhead A1, salaries etc., I am seeking approval to add €2 million to the amount provided for Garda overtime. This will bring the provision for the year to €53.516 million. In proposing this increase, I am making good my commitment after the collapse of the Keane trial in Limerick to make additional funding available to enable the Garda to mount targeted operations in the Limerick and Finglas areas in particular.
This money will enable the Garda to undertake an additional 55,000 hours overtime in November and December. On subhead A2, travel and subsistence, I am proposing that the original Estimate of €20.98 million be increased by €2.62 million. Expenditure in this heading is incurred by the Garda in the prevention, detection and investigation of crime and the additional expenditure arises as a result of increased operational activity by the force. On subheads A3, A4, A8 and D, which concern incidental expenses, posts and telecommunications, station services and transport, I am proposing an increase of €7,630 to cover additional expenditure on these areas.
On subhead G, superannuation, I am seeking to increase the provision by €7.81 million to bring the full year figure to €171.824 million. This additional provision is to meet the cost of a higher than anticipated rate of retirements in the force. Members of the Garda Síochána, as the committee knows, can 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, other ranks at 60. In 2003, there were 235 voluntary and 102 compulsory retirements. Notwithstanding the number of retirements, I am pleased to be able to state that the current strength of the force, at 12,000, stands at an all-time high.
Due to the cyclical nature of Garda numbers in terms of matching recruitment with retirements, it is likely that this number will fall back in the early stages of 2004. It is a bit like a saw edge. The figure goes up every time a new attestation is added and then slides down until the next attestation, but the underlying trend is upwards and we will be at 12,200 by the end of 2003. Monthly retirement figures have declined considerably in the latter half of 2003. Certain members may have deferred their retirement until 2004, when it will be more financially beneficial following the payment of benchmarking and pay awards due in January 2004. However, the underlying trend in force strength continues upwards. Attestations in April, July, September and November 2003 will see the maximum authorised strength of the force, at 12,200, being achieved in 2004.
On subheads H and I, witness expenses and compensation, I am proposing an additional €1.320 million to meet the full year costs of these demand-led items. Finally, on the Garda Vote, I am proposing an additional €200,000 on subhead J, the witness security programme, to meet an expected overrun of that amount on the operation of that programme. Taking the Vote as a whole, the total additional requirement is €21.58 million. I propose that this be met by transferring €9.92 million from subhead K, appropriations-in-aid, to the subheads in question. The balance of €11.659 million is being met by offsetting savings on other subheads in the Vote.
On the courts Vote, in addition to a token additional requirement of €1,000 for the Vote, I also seek an additional €1.320 million for subhead A1, salaries, to cover a shortfall in the provision for court staff salaries. I am also seeking an additional €460,000 to cover a shortfall of that amount in the provision for travel and subsistence for Courts Service staff and members of the Judiciary. Finally, on the courts Vote, I propose an additional €2.54 million for subhead A6, office premises expenses. The expenditure here relates to operating and utility costs such as courthouse maintenance, fuel, heat and light, furniture, fittings and leases.
The total additional expenditure on this Vote amounts to €4.32 million. I propose that this be funded by transferring a surplus of €1.35 million in subhead C, appropriations-in-aid, to the subheads in question. The remaining balance of €2.969 million is being met by savings in other areas of the Vote. In summary, the total amount of additional expenditure for the three Votes is €38 million, or 2% of the total financial envelope for the Vote group for the full year. This €38 million is being financed by transferring €15.67 million in surplus appropriations-in-aid to spending subheads. The balance of €22.23 million is being met by savings of that amount on subheads in the three Votes in question.
Since January 2003 the Department has operated on the basis of monthly supervised profiles in expenditure, and we have achieved significantly improved and enhanced control over expenditure in the Department. We are fairly clear about how we are doing in each month, as against an annual profile. As a result of this new method, we have achieved the capacity to make some provision for contingencies, but over a year to live within our budget. There are three €1,000 nominal increased expenditure items being sought by me today but the reality is that the other movements of moneys are between expenditure subheads, taking in appropriations-in-aid. I am asking the committee to validate the very effective budgeting process that has taken place over the year in the Department.
