C&AG: Gardaí spent €250k on unused hotel rooms during Europa League final

Bayer Leverkusen players during a training session at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin ahead of the UEFA Europa League final. File picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Gardaí spent hundreds of thousands of euro on unused hotel rooms during its policing operation for the Europa League final in Dublin last year.

A report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) found that An Garda Síochána spent €590,000 booking hotel rooms in bulk ahead of the May 2024 final.

“Just over 40% of this expenditure (€248,500) related to accommodation that was not used by garda personnel,” the report said.

“Notwithstanding the challenges in assessing demand for necessary accommodation, this level of wastage does not represent value for money.” 

The UEFA Europa League is Europe’s second most prestigious club competition, and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium hosted the final for the second time.

Contested between Atalanta of Italy and Bayer Leverkusen of Germany, Atalanta won comfortably, 3-0.

The C&AG said the total cost of policing the event was €7.8m, all covered by the State.

That included almost €5m in overtime payments and over €300,000 in “travel and subsistence.”

Gardaí designated the match as an “extraordinary event,” restricting annual leave around the game.

As part of preparations, gardaí arranged rooms with 25 accommodation providers across three nights. However, the report found they bypassed public procurement guidelines.

Originally, 786 rooms were booked at a cost of €586,000. Of these, 246 were cancelled, but 118 rooms still had to be paid for at €91,577.

Furthermore, of the 1,040 beds booked per night, over 300 went unoccupied.

The C&AG found that An Garda Síochána booked rooms before instructing members to assess demand, leading to an oversupply. Late submissions for accommodation requests further compounded the issue.

The report recommended: “An Garda Síochána should adhere to firm deadlines when requesting information from members and ensure garda members are fully informed about the requisition process and the requirement to request or decline accommodation and meals for an event within a defined timeline.” 

In response, gardaí said they had introduced new systems in late 2024 to improve timelines for declaring extraordinary events.

The C&AG also identified over 250 potential overpayments in travel and subsistence claims, worth €35,000.

“Due to limitations in the data available, the amounts identified are likely the minimum level of overpayment,” it said. 

“An Garda Síochána has stated that internal audit will review this information and all overpayments substantiated will be recouped.”