JUSTICE:EXPENDITURE ON An Garda Síochána this year is set to fall by €85 million, €70 million more than the Government estimated when the initial budget estimates were published last October.
The reduction in the Garda budget accounts for almost half the €200 million reduction in spending across justice which includes the Department of Justice, the Garda, the Prison Service and the Courts Service.
Funding for the Equality Authority is down by 40 per cent, to €3.3 million, while the Equality Tribunal sees its funding reduced by 13 per cent to €2.55 million.
Cosc, the body dealing with domestic and gender-based violence, sees its budget reduced by 13 per cent to €2.7 million.
Within the Garda budget, spending on overtime is to drop this year by €35 million to €80 million. Spending on Garda travel within Ireland is also being greatly reduced from €37 million last year to €21.2 million in 2009.
Spending on student gardaí is down by €6 million to €13 million. This follows the recent announcement that recruitment to the force is being suspended.
Compensation for members of the force injured in the line of duty is being almost halved from €24.7 million to €12.9 million.
Expenditure on Garda communications systems is also being cut, with an estimated budget of €33 million in the current year compared to €45.9 million last year.
Spending on the Prison Service has been cut by 10 per cent to €364 million. Despite the prison population being bigger than ever and overcrowding worse than ever, expenditure on prison buildings and equipment is being cut by almost a third to €48.3 million.
