A new Garda helicopter and fixed wing surveillance plane will be delivered and deployed next year, with a second new helicopter to follow. However, the shortage of gardaí on the streets has necessitated an increase in the force’s overtime budget for 2026, which will be almost double what it was six years ago.
The investment in the three aircraft is part of a €390 million capital expenditure unveiled in the budget. This will be spread across the Justice portfolio, which includes the Irish Prison Service, Courts Service and An Garda Síochána, among others.
The fixed wing aircraft is a Canadian-made De Havilland Twin Otter Guardian, costing about €6.5 million before any surveillance equipment is added.
The Government has, in the Budget, pledged once again to recruit 1,000 new gardaí next year. This is despite the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary, only being able to train a maximum of 800 recruits per year.
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The overtime budget will be increased by €19 million next year, to €169 million. It is a move that acknowledges the gap between the size of the force at present and the policing demands generated by a growing population.
Next year’s planned bump in spending on Garda overtime represents a 13 per cent increase on this year and is 80 per cent higher than the overtime spend in 2019. In that same period, since 2019, the strength of the force has grown by just 135 members, to 14,369 at present.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents over 11,000 rank-and-file gardaí, said it had been “left disappointed and completely underwhelmed” by the justice-related measures in the budget. General secretary Ronan Slevin said it was the third year in succession 1,000 new gardaí had been promised, yet fewer than 700 recruits had come out of the college each year.
He added that the increase in overtime spending “simply reaffirms the failures of this and past governments” in relation to Garda numbers and the continued “reliance on our overworked members working longer hours to make up for the shortfalls in resources”.
A total of €6.17 billion has been allocated in funding for next year for the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.
Some €1.6 billion has been allocated in contingency funding for the processing of international protection applications. This money will also go towards applicants’ accommodation as well as accommodation for Ukrainians fleeing the war.
The funding is being made available as the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is set to become operational next year, which will standardise immigration control systems across member states, including tougher borders and holding centres for migrants.
It is intended that €77 million will go towards the recruitment of the additional 1,000 gardaí and 200 additional civilian Garda workers. Some €1.74 million is also being provided in a bid to revive the unpaid and part-time Garda Reserve, with a doubling of its strength to “over 600” envisaged.
The Irish Prison Service has been allocated €579 million, with a capital investment of €67.9 million that will be used to construct 550 extra prison spaces across the system, including 264 in Cloverhill Prison, Dublin.
The €214m for the Courts Service includes €55 million in estates investment next year. This will include progressing the new Family Court at Hammond Lane, Dublin, while €17.5 million will go toward a courts IT and modernisation process and the appointment of 20 new judges. More than €6.7 million of additional funding is being allocated to the Irish Probation Service, while €11.5 million of additional funding goes to initiatives to combat domestic and gender-based violence.
