Banks ‘pay less than half of armed escort costs’

BANKS contributed less than half of the €40 million cost of nearly 10,000 cash deliveries escorted by gardaí and the Defence Forces over a four year period, figures showed yesterday.

Figures supplied by the departments of defence and justice reveal that the banking sector contributed €17m of the total cost to the end of 2003.

Over the same period, the cost to the Defence Forces was nearly €15m while the gardaí paid €8.5m.