Civil service overtime - Ministers must control spending

THE astronomical cost of overtime in the civil service, estimated at €100 million for the past year alone, is mind boggling.

Having gifted the public service with the highly controversial benchmarking pay bonanza, the Government is now presiding over an expenses give-away that allows some civil servants to top up their pay packets by almost €50,000 extra a year.

Today’s Irish Examiner analysis of overtime and travel-related expenses, reveals that €45m was doled out in overtime while €53m went on travel and subsistence payments.