Other Government departments are being asked to come up with half of the money for an increase in Garda pay.

25 million will have to be cut from other Government Departments in order to pay for the Labour Court deal.

When the Labour Court proposals were first issued, the Department of Justice said the extra money needed to cover the cost would come from within its own budget.

But it's now been agreed that the bill will be split between the Department of Justice, and the rest of the public service.

Under the revised 2017 Budget to be published tomorrow, 25 million will be reassigned to the Garda pay budget from elsewhere within the Department of Justice's purse.

but the other 25 million will be scraped off the other Departments of State - meaning all of them will have to cut corners or scale back in other areas in order to meet the extra pay bill arising from the Labour Court deal.

The ongoing cost from 2018 onwards will be met from within the Justice budget alone - but the move is a reminder of how little leeway the government sees, as other public unions line up for pay claims.