THE most unexpected element of the Government's "crime package", announced last night, is a "review of the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the Garda Siochana", which may be completed, at least in part, by a group of outside consultants.

The announcement is the first indication that the Government believes the increase in crime may have something to do with the way gardai go about their business.

The review also provides an interesting challenge for the next Garda Commissioner, whose appointment is due to be announced shortly. He will be obliged to commit himself to whatever reforms the review group devises.

The new measure appears to come from the Labour Party, which produced a report yesterday showing only 1.5 per cent of Garda personnel are directly engaged in the fight against drugs.

The Garda has usually blamed external matters an archaic courts system, lack of funds and so on for its problems in dealing with some types of crime.

Ministers would accept some of these arguments, but it will come as a surprise to senior Garda management that the Government has also decided to shine its torch into Garda Headquarters.

Last night's package filled with initiatives which Ministers would have deemed impossible only a few short weeks ago is a belated recognition of the gravity of the crime problem.

The five grim faced Ministers (including the Taoiseach) who announced it last night had clearly decided that remarks they might previously have deployed, such as "our crime levels are low by international standards", showed little understanding of the unfolding problems in their State.

If the tragic events of recent days allow anyone to raise a modest smile, it would have to come from the Minister for Justice, Ms Owen, who has finally secured resources refused by her Cabinet colleagues for many months.

The major initiative in the package is the new £40 million prison for Wheatfield in Dublin which will obviously mean considerable on going costs for the Exchequer.

The recruitment of extra garda will cost an initial £6.8 million while recruitment of more civilians for the force to free gardai for the beat will cost £2.1 million. The courts system will cost £5 million more.

Announcing these figures, the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, said crime had become a "priority of the citizens", and gave a clear hint that other things he had intended to fund will now be dropped.

Already, programmes to increase the number of prison cells in the State from about 2,200 to 2,660 are in train. Wheatfield Mark 11 will bring the prison population close to 3,000.

ANOTHER significant element is the decision to put a senior Garda in charge of a new Garda/Social Welfare/Revenue unit for pursuing wealthy drug dealers. How senior the appointment will be has yet to be decided, but as he or she will report through the Garda to the Department of Justice, there is no question about who will have control over this new squad.

The inability of Garda and Revenue Commissioners to co-operate effectively against the drugs business was acknowledged by the Taoiseach last night.

The Revenue Commissioners, long seen in political circles as the institution least able to cope with the demands placed on the State by the "drugs barons", will probably not be surprised to have lost some of their manpower to a Garda unit.

Now that the Government has some anti crime impetus, there are a few other changes needed which would greatly increase the efficiency of Garda operations.

In its investigation bf the Marilyn Rynn murder in Dublin last Christmas, the Garda took DNA samples from hundreds of people including known sex offenders. There were so many samples the State's forensic science laboratory in Dublin simply could not cope so a large proportion of the work was contracted out to British laboratories. As these laboratories cannot be forced to prioritise work for the Garda, the pace of an investigations has to be left at the mercy of commercial decisions by a company in another country.

Meanwhile, the Dublin laboratory is using one of the earliest and" most basic DNA systems, which is slow to produce results. A new machine which would allow it to keep pace with an investigation such as the Rynn case would cost no more than £100,000.

Some believe a legal change is also necessary in this area. All DNA samples taken must be destroyed within six months. If someone is raped and murdered in Blanchardstown, Dublin, next Christmas, much of the work of the Rynn investigating team must be repeated. There would be an obvious saving of time and manpower if the samples from the Rynn investigation could be kept on the State laboratory's computer.

The laboratory is, however, to get six additional staff, according to last night's package.

Most of the other elements in the package had been well flagged by the time of last night's announcement.

There was an extraordinary admission by a junior minister in the Government three days ago. Mr Gay Mitchell was on radio discussing drugs and organised crime in the Republic, and he said:

"Within the Dail there's a comparatively small number of people who understand the extent of this problem.

With luck there are now a few more TDs who understand it.