Garda Band costs taxpayer to tune of €1.75m despite cuts

The Garda Band cost taxpayers to the tune of almost €1.75m last year, despite slashing travel and subsistence expenses for the musical troupe by nearly 50%.

The band is comprised of 29 full-time musicians who have Garda ranks such as sergeant and inspector, but are not involved in policing duties.

They were paid an average of €58,225 each last year, and racked up a further €45,508 in overheads and expenses.

An Garda Síochána is currently looking for ways to curb police spending for the remainder of 2019 after reporting a budgetary overrun of €4.5m in pay-related expenditure by July.

The overall cost of the Garda Band was reduced by 4% last year, amounting to €1.73m. This included €1.69m in salaries and allowances for its 29 musicians.

The amount claimed in travel and subsistence expenses by the troupe fell by 48% to €26,736, although transport costs increased by 91% to €7,003. This suggests that savings may have been achieved by paying for transport directly, rather than reimbursing members for mileage and subsistence.

Costs relating to communications and other equipment was also cut by 48%, falling to €6,075 during 2018. However, there was little change in “incidental” expenses, which amounted to €5,560.

A Garda spokesperson said that the band performed at more than 160 functions last year, including the Rose of Tralee festival, the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, and a number of rugby and soccer internationals at the Aviva Stadium.

“Besides providing music for official Garda functions, such as graduation ceremonies at the Garda College, the band undertakes a heavy community-orientated programme each year at schools, festivals and sporting events,” they said.

The Garda Band made headlines in May when one of its musicians allegedly punched a colleague backstage at a BBC Northern Ireland event, where they were about to play together with their PSNI counterparts on live television.

The incident reportedly occurred after one of the Garda Band members pulled his colleague’s leg hair, prompting him to retaliate by punching the alleged instigator. Members of both bands intervened to prevent further altercation, according to reports.

The police musical troupe has cost taxpayers around €9m over the past five years, according to records released under the Freedom of Information Act.

It was established shortly after the foundation of An Garda Síochána in 1922, before being disbanded in 1965, when its 35 full-time members were told to report for ordinary policing duties.

The decision was taken by then-justice minister Brian Lenihan Snr, who said that the band had “outlived its usefulness” and that the cost of maintaining it was “excessive, wasteful, and out of all proportion to any purpose served”.

The band was re-established in 1972, however, to mark the 50th anniversary of An Garda Síochána, and has remained a part of the force since then.