Overtime bill for gardaí plummets

The Garda overtime bill has plummeted from €115.3m in 2008 to €42.4m last year.

The huge reduction — the bill almost halved since it stood at €81m in 2011 — has been attributed to changed work practices in the force.

Further cuts are factored in for this year, as the Haddington Road Agreement takes effect, with the provision for Garda overtime standing at €39.6m.

A Garda Representative Association (GRA) spokes-man claimed it was now impossible to cover all policing needs in some areas.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said “significant changes’’ had been made in Garda practices. He claimed the result of a new, more flexible roster was that more gardaí were on duty when the demand was greater.

“[The roster] also enables Garda management to make more efficient use of available resources generally, with the result that the amount of overtime required to be worked by Garda members is reduced,’’ Mr Shatter said.

Replying to a Dáil question from Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae (Ind), Mr Shatter said the Haddington Road deal had two specific measures which would impact on the demand for overtime.

Firstly, voluntary Garda overtime would be worked at a reduced rate of time and a quarter, rather than time and a half.

Secondly, each garda, sergeant, and inspector would work an extra three days a year in 2013-15.

The extra working time would provide almost 400,000 additional policing hours to the Garda Commissioner and would, in turn, contribute towards reducing Garda overtime.

Mr Shatter also said Garda management was continuing to review measures which had the potential to reduce the need for overtime.

“The priority will remain the deployment of the maximum number of gardaí on frontline operational duties,’’ he said.

Mr Healy-Rae said he was concerned about the dramatic drop in overtime payments and warned it could result in higher crime levels.

A GRA spokesman said gardaí had suffered five successive pay cuts since 2008.

“Gardaí now work 10-hour shifts and many also face a long commute to and from work because they simply could not afford homes in the areas where they work. Goth the cost and time of travel is a factor,” the spokesman said.

“The GRA has repeatedly warned that reduced Garda numbers diminishes the policing service the public can expect. In some areas, it is now impossible to cover all the policing needs. There have been no new recruits replacing retirements in the frontline units for the past four years.’’

The spokesman said every garda was working at optimum capacity and would not be able to replace retired colleagues. He called for recruitment to begin now.

“The failure to recruit consistently will have long-term consequences for Ireland. The real solution would be to recruit between 400 and 600 gardaí every year, independently of political expediency, and so avoid the situation of block retirements and ‘generation gaps’.”

Overtime

Garda overtime bill:

* 2008 — €115.3m

* 2009 — €79.5m

* 2010 — €78.2m

* 2011 — €80.9m

* 2012 — €42.4m

* 2013* — €39.66m* predicted