Record garda overtime bill of €197m due to Dublin riots and Europa League final
Gordon Deegan
A Garda overtime bill of €4.86 million for policing crowds at the UEFA Europa League Final in Dublin last May and the Garda response to the November 2023 Dublin riots contributed to the Garda overtime bill soaring to a record €197 million for 2024.
New figures published by An Garda Síochána show that the Garda overtime bill increased by €16.24 million or nine per cent from €180.86 million in 2023 to €197.1 million or a daily overtime spend of €540,000 across 2024.
A spokesman for An Garda Síochána said on Friday: “Crime investigation, crime prevention, national security, court related activity, high visibility policing in the Dublin Metropolitan Region, policing of protests, and policing of large events such as the UEFA Europa League final were the key drivers of overtime in 2024.”
He said: “In addition, significant overtime relating to the response to the Dublin riots of November 2023 was paid in 2024."
The spokesman said that “the increase in pay from 2023 to 2024 as granted by Public Sector pay agreements is also a contributing factor in increasing the cost of overtime”.
The single largest draw on the Garda overtime bill was €44.13 million spent on Garda HQ and National Units which was an 18 per cent increase on the €37.49 million under the same heading in 2023.
On the 18 per cent overtime increase in Garda HQ and National Units, the Garda spokesman said: “All overtime associated with the policing of the UEFA Europa League Final was allocated to a cost centre that fell within the Garda HQ and National Units categorisation.”
The highest quarterly overtime spend for 2024 was the second quarter which also coincided with the overtime operation for the May 22nd Europa Cup final between Bayern Leverkusen of Germany and Atalanta of Italy at the Aviva Stadium.
During the 2nd quarter, the overtime spend totalled €62.3m and this compares to €46.32 million in the 4th quarter, €45.33 million in the third quarter and €43.15 million between January and the end of March.
The total Garda spend for the policing of the Europa Cup Final totalled €7.12 million that also included travel and subsistence costs of €400,000 and €1.17 million in other expenses along with the overtime spend of €4.86 million.
On the overall overtime spend for 2024, the Garda spokesman said: "An Garda Síochána takes very seriously its requirement to ensure value for money in relation to all spend, including overtime. The financial position of An Garda Síochána is reviewed regularly and, when required, measures are put in place to reduce over-spends."
He said: “The cost of overtime associated with protests, public gatherings and/or serious public disorder across the country is not separately identifiable."
The figures show that the Garda overtime spend in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) totalled €72.02 million which was a 12 per cent increase on the DMR overtime bill of €64.38 million for 2023.
The €72 million spend on overtime for Dublin last year compared to an overtime spend in the DMR of €43.6 million in 2022 - a jump of 65 per cent.
The Garda area with the largest overtime bill in 2024 was Dublin Metropolitan Region (DRM) North at €15.16 million followed by an overtime spend of €14.32 million at DMR South Central .
There was an overtime spend of €13.85 million in DMR West and €13.17 million DMR North Central. The overtime spend for Cork city was €3.96 million and Cork county €4 million.
