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Justice-sector funding boost in Budget 2024

The justice sector will have €3.5 billion allocated next year, after Budget 2024.

And €9 million will be paid towards restoring criminal-legal-aid fees, with a 10% increase in early 2024.

Automatic fee payment will also be introduced for criminal legal aid.

The total gross allocation for the Courts Vote in 2024 is €183 million – including capital funding of €67 million.

35 judicial-support staff

The Courts Service will receive €1.4 million for up to 35 additional support staff for new members of the judiciary.

And a sum of €1.4 million is allocated to progress eProbate and other elements of courts modernisation to simplify processes.

Additional operational costs across the Courts Service will get an additional €2 million.

Funding for the gardai is up to €2.3 billion, for recruitment of up to 1,000 members and 250 additional civilian staff in 2024.

A total of €6 million will be provided for “wellbeing initiatives”, medical costs, and 2,500 units of body armour.

Prisons budget

The Irish Prisons Service budget goes up by more than €27 million to €439 million.

The Probation Service will get an additional €2.5 million.

A total of €21 million is allocated to speed up international-protection processing, with 125 additional staff to be recruited by the end of 2024.

The Legal Aid Board gets €5.5 million to recruit new staff, invest in technology, and provide for additional costs related to the increase in immigration applications.

The total gross allocation for the Data Protection Commission Vote in 2024 is €27.9 million – an increase of 60% (€11 million) since 2020.