Criticism of €800,000 in public holiday allowances for staff in Garda HQ

The practice of gardaí receiving allowances for carrying out non-essential work on public holidays represents a “culture of entitlement", according to the force’s own auditors.

The hard-hitting criticism of the practice is contained in a report by the Garda Internal Audit Service which estimated the cost of allowances for staff working at Garda HQ over 12 public holidays was adding €800,000 to the Garda pay bill each year. It found many claimants were not engaged in “high visibility” duties.