Overtime bill for Garda more than €100m

The Government's battle against gun crime resulted in the annual Garda overtime bill for 2006 exceeding €100 million.

Figures released by the Department of Justice yesterday in response to a Freedom of Information request show that the overtime bill for the entire force last year was €102.6 million.

The top 20 overtime-earning gardaí were all based in Dublin.

The records show that the garda who received the highest overtime payments was a Dublin-based sergeant who received €77,363, which more than doubled his annual salary of €51,000, giving an overall salary of €128,363.

The €102 million overtime bill in 2006 represents a 32 per cent increase on the €77 million spent on Garda overtime in 2005.

Between them, the top 20 overtime-earning gardaí received €1.13 million last year. They comprise 13 sergeants, four rank-and-file gardaí and three inspectors.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said "Operation Anvil", which was set up in 2005 to target armed gangs in Dublin, led to significant overtime costs last year.

He said the operation had been highly successful and had resulted in 6,250 arrests in connection with murder, serious assaults, burglary, robbery and other serious offences. More than 10,000 vehicles had been seized and stolen property worth €17.2 million had been recovered.

However, Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said the overtime bill for 2006 "reflects the failure of the Government to provide the 2,000 additional gardaí on the streets" which had been promised.

Mr O'Keeffe said an overtime bill in excess of €100 million was "the inevitable consequence of having the existing force so stretched because the numbers aren't there".

He cited a response to a recent Dáil question tabled by Labour TD Ruairí Quinn which stated that the annual salary bill for 2,000 additional gardaí would be €85.3 million.

"This shows the crazy incompetence and economic mismanagement of the Government where the cost of the additional gardaí is lower than the overtime bill for last year," Mr O'Keeffe said.

"The taxpayer has got a very bad deal from the Government's failure to provide the additional gardaí. The promise of the 2,000 additional gardaí has only been half-delivered at this stage."

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell recently confirmed that the personnel strength of all ranks in the Garda is 13,178.

This year, 275 fully trained gardaí are expected to graduate from the Garda College in Templemore every three months.

As part of anti-crime measures last December, the Government approved the continuation of the existing Garda recruitment programme to achieve a total Garda strength of 15,000.

The accelerated intake of about 1,100 new recruits per annum into the Garda College is to continue until the target is met with the Garda budget now standing at €1.4 billion, an 11 per cent increase on 2006.