Bill for gardaí at Corrib site hits €14m

By Mary Regan, Political Reporter

Monday, February 08, 2010

MORE than €8,500 a day has been spent on overtime and expenses for gardaí policing the Corrib gas project in Mayo since protests began there than five years ago.

Since August 2005, €14 million has been paid to gardaí deployed to the site over and above their normal salaries.

The latest Department of Justice figures reveal:

n€8.6m has been spent on overtime and allowances.

n€4.3m on travel and subsistence.

n€250,000 on miscellaneous expenses.

A Garda spokesperson said there are now no extra gardaí deployed to the area and protests are policed by local stations.

During the height of the protests, about 50 gardaí were deployed each day and in October 2006, 114 members of the force were transferred temporarily to Belmullet Garda Station.

Shell to Sea, which opposes the construction, said protests are still taking place but have scaled back at the Ballinaboy site and Glengad beach.

Spokesperson Caoimhe Kerins said: "It’s very difficult for us to see how the Government can justify spending such a huge amount of money on policing a private company from which the community will not get any benefit."

She said the sum was huge "particularly when you consider that Shell is using its own private security company".

Mayo Fine Gael TD, John O’Mahony recently warned of a policing crisis in the county where 30 gardaí retired in the past year.

He said that "a huge amount of resources" have been put into policing the Shell project but the gardaí "obviously found it necessary to do that".

"I wouldn’t criticise their judgement on it, I think all sides would have wished it did not have to come to that."

"It is one of the outcomes of the deep divisions in the area, gardaí had to react to what was happening on the ground."

Shell to Sea representatives met two Government ministers last week to discuss its claims that the oil company has built 92 metres of pipeline onshore at Glengad beach which it believes is not allowed under its planning permission.

The meeting with Rural Affairs Minister Eamon O Cuív and Energy Minister Eamon Ryan also discussed the announcement that Shell is being given more time to come up with an alternative route for its pipeline.

An Bord Pleanála announced last week that Shell was given additional months until May 31 to submit plans that would ensure there were no safety risks to the local residents.

The company was initially expected to submit these plans by February 5.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, February 08, 2010