National Security budget: 1,000 extra gardaí, increased defence spending and more prison officers

LAST UPDATE | 5 hrs ago

NATIONAL SECURITY WILL see a major increase in spending with 1,000 extra gardaí, 400 more soldiers and 350 more prison officers.

Justice will see a package of €3.9 billion which Minister Paschal Donohoe has said is a record allocation – last year’s was €3.3 billion.

The breakdown for justice will see funding go to recruit 350 additional staff for the Irish Prison Service and provide scope to investment in areas such as prisoner care and rehabilitation.

The Government have allocated funding to recruit a further 1,000 gardaí and 150 garda civilian staff. 

There will be a “significant expansion” in the international protection processing system and includes four hundred additional staff across this area. This is likely to include a measure where by processing will be taken over by Justice officials from members of An Garda Síochána. 

There is also an additional €7m for organisations providing supports to victims of domestic and gender based sexual violence.

Justice breakdown

An Garda Síochána will get increased funding by more than €500m which is a 27% since 2020) bringing the total budget to €2.48 billion.

This will provide funding to recruit between 800 and 1,000 new Gardaí, along with 150 Garda staff and move towards 1,000 Garda reserves.

Critical to garda operations to fill the shortfall in numbers the overtime has been boosted by 13%, rising to €150 million.

The Garda trainee allowance will have almost doubled to €354 per week, effective from 1 October 2024 – this was €184.

There will be €1.5 million for Garda workforce wellbeing measures, including medical expenses.

The Public Order Unit will get an extra €5m for two new water cannons, crowd control barriers, expansion of the dog unit and more body armour for frontline Gardaí.

And road safety work will get €9 million in additional funding to enhance road safety

Capital projects will get €100m for ICT to equip Gardaí with tech such as body-worn cameras (BWC) and the development of a digital evidence management system which will facilitate the nationwide roll-out of BWCs and the introduction of facial recognition technology.

There will be €62m investment in the Garda estate across the country with major projects progressed in 2025 including Portlaoise, Macroom, Clonmel and Newcastlewest.

There will also be new vehicles and investment in a range of specialist vehicles to support modern policing.

The gardaí will get a new helicopter in the first quarter of 2025 for the important work of the Garda Air Support Unit.

To assist victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence there will be €70m set asie – which is three times the previous figure. 

There is increased funding for domestic violence agency Cuan to €67m including additional resources to support the implementation of the Zero Tolerance strategy, with funding for 80 additional refuge spaces.

Prisons

In the prisons Prisons and probation there will €525m to increase prison capacity and tackle overcrowding. This is an increase of €79m or 18%.

€53m in Capital Funding which will provide for the completion of 155 new prison spaces by the end of 2024 as part of a programme of works.

The Probation Service will receive an additional €4 million bringing the total budget to more than €60m to expand crime diversion programmes, support step down facilities, restorative justice, and community-based alternatives to imprisonment.

Immigration

A €25m package for investment in the immigration systems to manage services, international protection, the appeals tribunal and legal aid board. €2m is provided for ICT capital expenditure.

Significant additional resources will be directed to streamline the international protection process, with approximately 400 further staff to be recruited. This will provide for more than 25,000 decisions compared to more than 14,000 cases in 2024.

Included in the package is €5m in increased investment in digital systems to modernise immigration systems, reduce processing times, increase removals with a new  new charter plane service), and strengthen border security.

Readiness work for the introduction of the EU Asylum and Migration Pact requirements in 2026.

Courts

The Courts Service budget will get €11.1m which will include 50 additional staff to support the expanding judiciary bringing its budget to more than €195m.

It also includes €2m to support modernisation measures including outsourced jury minding to free up thousands of Garda hours for frontline policing services.

There will be ring fenced funding of €3m is to provide a pilot project to support children in family justice proceedings.

The budget for criminal legal aid will increase in 2025 by over €9m which will include an 8% increase in fees from 1 January 2025. This is in addition to the 10% increase in fees secured in Budget 2024. The Minister is committed to building on this progress.

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Garda oversight

A total funding package of €28m provided for new bodies including Fiosrú which is replacing Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, the Policing and Community Safety Authority, and the Office of the Independent Examiner.

Defence

The Defence sector will see another increase in funding as the Defence Forces will see an increase in its budget by €100m bringing it’s overall allocation to €1.35 billion.

There is a 22% increase in capital investment to €215m which will go to fund previously announced projects such as major Defence equipment and infrastructural upgrades, such as military radar and subsea surveillance projects.

Donohoe said that the defence budget allocation will provide for recruitment, training and support of a “net increase” of 400 military personnel in 2025

There will be investment in measures such as enhanced advertising for recruitment, equipment maintenance and a new and improved Defence Forces’ uniform.

“This budgetary increase builds on investment in recent years and underlines this Government’s commitment to the transformation of the Defence Forces through the implementation of the Commission on the Defence Forces, and Independent Review Group’s recommendations,” Donohoe added. 

The breakdown will be €469 million for the Permanent Defence Forces pay, including €13 million for the recruitment of the extra troops.

A Graduate Cadet on commissioning starts on €49,552; a School Leaver Cadet on €44,216 and a Private 3 Star/Able Seaman on €40,297.

An increased advertising allocation of €3.2 million to provide further impetus to Defence Forces recruitment efforts.

More than €6 million for additional civilian recruitment and to allow for an increased spend on external expertise and services.

There also will be €6 million for the full year costs of the Tribunal of Inquiry in 2025 arising from the IRG Report.

There is also to be an additional €8 million to support Air Corps fleet maintenance, airfield and training costs and €329 million to meet the pensions costs of Defence Forces Veterans and their dependents. 

Reaction

The news of increased funding has been welcomed by military representative associations. 

Lieutenant Colonel Conor King of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers welcomed the “enhanced capital spend which is a down payment” on the recommendations in the Commission on the Defence Forces report. 

“It is a positive statement of intent by Government.

“Our members note the aspiration to increase Defence Forces strength by a net 400 in 2025.

“This will only be achieved by retaining the talent that we have, and can only be accomplished by urgent implementation of the working time directive, improvements to post 2013 pension arrangements, and enhanced supports for the instructors who will be called on to drive the recruitment effort.

“If these measures are delivered with the concurrent investment in infrastructure, then the Defence Forces will be in a good place,” he said. 

Mark Keane President of PDFORRA also noted that primary radar and other infrastructure projects were previously announced following the findings of the Commission on the Defence Forces findings. 

“This is something that’s urgently required to protect the vital infrastructure and to maintain the high level of foreign direct investment in this country, which is the engine for continued economic growth.

“Unfortunately, we can not afford to implement the other recommendations contained in the Commission report, such as long service increments.

“Whilst it’s a welcome announcement by the Minister with regards to the maritime tax credit, we need to address the ongoing issues around retention and remuneration.

“We need to be investing now for the rejuvenation of Óglaigh na hÉireann to attract and retain the highly skilled personnel needed to operate the new proposed primary radar systems and these other projects,” he said. 

Ronan Slevin of the Garda Representative association said the group welcomed the increase in numbers but “we must wonder if this is just another empty Government promise”.

“It must be stated that in last year’s Budget 2024 we were also promised 800-1,000 recruits by the end of this year but we will see barely 700 which hardly covers the losses through retirements and resignations.

“What it means is that garda strength has actually fallen over the past three years, regularly dipping below the 14,000 mark instead of reaching the 15,000-16,000 numbers promised by successive budgets.

“And 2025 promises a new high in retirements as it marks the 30 year anniversary of a large recruitment drive so that will only add to the current pressures on personnel which in turn will have a damning effect on the burden of work on the remaining members.

“This is simply a crisis in numbers on a catastrophic scale,” he said. 

Slevin said there has been a failure to ensure the retention of gardaí and to attract new members.

“For instance, there could have been incremental rewards for members with long service, accommodation allowances for members sent to large urban areas for their first few years of service, increased allowances for trainees, increased pension payments and subsidised health insurance for all members.

“Instead, what we heard amounted to lip service on garda numbers which we would like to see materialise but we will not hold our breath,” he added. 

This is a breaking story and updates will follow

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