More than €189m paid to gardaí for overtime last year

An Garda Síochána said that the €193.5m total bill should be considered as a draft figure until their accounts are examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General. File picture

Gardaí were paid more than €189m in overtime last year with some members cashing in to the tune of more than €50,000 each.

One inspector was able to earn an extra €65,008 on top of their ordinary salary, according to records released under the Freedom of Information Act .

The overall overtime bill was €189.01m — the equivalent of around €13,000 per member of the force, based on the latest figures for garda strength.

A further €4.5m was paid to staff members of An Garda Síochána, of whom there are currently around 3,500.

The average overtime payment per head for staff was far lower than the garda equivalent at just under €1,300.

An Garda Síochána said that the €193.5m total bill should be considered as a draft figure until their accounts are examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

A list of the top 20 overtime earning gardaí showed they shared a combined pot of around €1.1m.

Three officers earned more than €60,000 on top of their normal wage, with payments ranging from €60,277 to €65,008.

A further ten gardaí took home between €55,000 and €60,000 in overtime, according to the data.

Rounding out the top 20 were seven officers who earned between €53,531 and €54,780 in additional pay.

The Dublin Metropolitan Region accounted for more than a third of the overtime bill with €71.4m in payments.

Overtime worth €31.8mwas paid in the North Western Region and €30.5m in the Eastern Region.

There was €25m of overtime earned in the Southern Region and €34.8m in HQ and national units.

Gardaí said they would not provide the total take-home pay for the 20 officers who had earned the most in overtime.

They said it is personal information and their earnings need to be protected in “a confidential and secure manner.”

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