Joe Biden visit drives up Garda overtime bill while officer numbers continue to fall

Armed gardaí at Ireland West Airport Knock, Co. Mayo, ahead of the arrival of US President Joe Biden in April. His visit sent the Garda overtime bill soaring—now €34m in the red. File photo: PA

Gardaí clocked up more than €30m in overtime in May, most of it linked to policing the State visit of US President Joe Biden in April.

This has driven the Garda overtime budget €34m into the red, with seven months still left in the year. The overtime bill comes as figures show a continuing drop in Garda numbers, driven by mounting retirements and resignations.

The Garda Commissioner’s June report to the Policing Authority shows:

• Overtime expenditure in May was €30.84m and the year-to-date was €79.81m—some €34.43m over budget profile;
• Overtime provision for this year, as per Budget 2023, was just over €100m;
• The amount actually spent on garda overtime in 2022 was almost €128m;
• Garda strength stood at 13,927 at the end of May 2023, compared to 13,995 the previous month, and 14,347 one year ago;
• Garda resignations stood at 59 at the end of May, compared to 108 for the whole of 2022, 95 in 2021, and 69 in 2020.

Garda associations maintain that high overtime bills are fundamentally due to not having enough gardaí.

The June monthly report shows that once leave arrangements are taken into account, the actual available Garda strength in May was 13,697, compared to 13,756 in April and 14,106 a year ago. Broken down by rank, the number of frontline gardaí in the organisation now stands at 11,187, compared to 11,639 a year ago.

Numbers at sergeant levels have increased in the last month, reflecting promotion competitions—from 2,042 in April to 2,081 in May, but still down on a year ago (2,094). The report said a total of 456 people at garda rank have been promoted to sergeant in recent years and 102 sergeants promoted to inspector.

In relation to recruitment, the report said that a total of 381 garda trainees had started in the Garda College since the 2022 competition commenced—92 entered last November, 135 last February, and 154 in May.

It said 930 candidates in total are still in the An Garda Síochána clearance process, which encompasses a physical competency test, a medical and vetting.

Separately, the report said that a Garda business case to fill 75 “priority vacancies” in IT had been approved by the Policing Authority and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Garda numbers

The monthly report paints a difficult period over the next decade. Compulsory retirements—those on age grounds—will increase substantially from 2028 onwards, hitting a peak in 2032 (445) and 2033 (438).

"This reflects historical recruitment patterns and shows that there will be up to 2,405 exits based on service in the coming years, irrespective of any other factors," the report said.

Last week, the Irish Examiner reported that Garda numbers are below the European average and “far below” the nations with the highest police-to-population ratios.

The Oireachtas Parliamentary Budget Office said Ireland had 291 gardaí for every 100,000 inhabitants in 2020, compared to an average of 328 police for every 100,000 people across 35 countries in Europe. The Irish ratio fell to 277 gardaí by 2022, it said.