Vol. 531 No. 5
15 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the steps being taken to deal with excessive overtime working by a number of gardaí, having regard to reports that one garda earned more than £55,000 in overtime and allowances during 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6137/01]
I am advised by the Garda authorities that overtime hours worked by members of the Garda Síochána are monitored at many levels, at district office, divisional office, regional office and by the finance section at Garda headquarters.
I am also advised that decisions to authorise overtime duty lies with local Garda management and involves factors such as the operational requirements and the availability of members. I am further advised that overtime is authorised only when all other reasonable avenues are exhausted. The Garda members referred to in the question do not all work in the same area.
The objective of Garda overtime is to allow the Garda Síochána flexibility in responding to circumstances that require personnel resources over and above those available from gardaí on rostered duty. The number of gardaí on duty at any one time depends on a variety of factors including the needs of the situation and the nature of work of particular units. A large proportion of Garda personnel are rostered in such a way that, on average, about 20% to 25% of that personnel – somewhat higher at times of greater need and lower at other times – is rostered to work at any given time during a 24 hour period. The current strength of the force is approximately 11,600 members.
The nature of Garda work and the requirement that the Garda authorities respond at short notice to crisis situations means that overtime expenditure is sometimes unavoidable for the purposes of effective policing.
