Garda trebles pay with €63k in overtime

Top 20 payments to gardai total almost €1m

THE highest earning rankand-file garda in the State trebled his pay last year — earning €62,996 in overtime alone. Another junior officer nabbed the second spot in the ‘overtime league’, topping up their salary by €51,141.

Third on the list was an inspector who had a salary boost of €50,587.

These new figures secured by the Sunday Independent show how the overall garda overtime bill has soared in the past five years.

In 2012, the figure was €41m — this had escalated to €71m in the first 10 months of this year. The large rise has resulted in an overtime pay bonanza for individual gardai.

A trawl through official records reveals the top 20 payments made to members last year totalled €931,582.

This means each garda took home, on average, an additional €46,580.

The top 20 individual payments range from €41,276 to €62,996. Figures also show eight rank-and-file gardai clocked up enough hours to share an overtime pot of €380,035. They topped up their pay by an average of €47,500 each.

Meanwhile, five inspectors stationed across the country shared €244,190 in extra payments, each adding an average €48,830 to their pay cheque.

Overtime is only payable to members at garda, sergeant and inspector rank. The mas- sive increase in overtime has been driven in part by the extra resources deployed in Dublin to combat the murderous Kinahan-Hutch feud.

Much of the focus of the crackdown on gangland crime has concentrated on the north inner city area.

The bill in the Dublin Metropolitan North Central Division soared from €5.2m in 2015 to €8.2m so far this year.

Latest developments confirm security costs — and the resulting overtime bill — will continue to be high in the area for the coming months.

Just last week notorious criminal Mark ‘The Guinea Pig’ Desmond, was shot dead during a gangland gun attack in the capital. Gardai believe the murder may be linked to the Kinahan-Hutch blood feud.

In total, spending across the six Dublin divisions has increased by €8m in the past 12 months.

Outside of Dublin, gardai based in Louth have earned the highest amount from working additional hours, followed by officers stationed in Laois/Offaly, Mayo, Galway, Limerick, Donegal and Meath.

Basic pay can rise by more than 25pc when overtime, unsocial hours payments, and other allowances are included.

Members of the force are entitled to a number of additional payments depending on their grade and where they are deployed.

Salary on attestation after 32 weeks is €€23,750. Gardai assigned to front-line duties and working a particular roster can earn various unsocial hours payments.

Such payments can amount to between 25pc and 30pc of their earnings. At the 25pc level, a garda’s pay package is boosted by €5,937, bringing the total to €29,687. This is before overtime is factored in.

There are also payments such as uniform maintenance and boot allowance, to which new gardai may be entitled.

Following the recent round of negotiations in the wake of threatened industrial action, rank-and-file gardai have voted to accept a Labour Court recommendation on improved pay and conditions.

The Government estimates the deal will cost €50m.

Under the Labour Court proposals, rent allowance of around €4,000 will be increased by €500 per year because of the “evolving” rental market. The allowance, which was abolished for newer recruits some years ago, will be restored to them from that date, and will be integrated into the pay of all gardai, resulting in a boost to overtime and premium payments.

‘Spending across the six Dublin divisions has risen by €8m’