Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 June 2017
46. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the events for which charges were levied by An Garda Síochána in exchange for policing services as provided under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 in each of the years 2010 to 2016, and to date in 2017, by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26338/17]
View answerThe Deputy will appreciate, decisions in relation to the provision and allocation of Garda resources are a matter for the Garda Commissioner, and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter.
Section 30 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 provides a statutory basis for the Garda Commissioner, as Accounting Officer for the Garda Vote, to charge for police services on a non-public duty basis for commercial events such as sports fixtures and concerts.
I have asked the Garda Commissioner for the specific information requested and when it is to hand I will inform the Deputy accordingly.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 46 for answer on 1st June, 2017 in which you requested details of the events for which charges were levied by An Garda Síochána in exchange for policing services as provided under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 in each of the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017, by county, in tabular form.
As the information you requested could not be obtained in the time available, I undertook to contact you again.
In accordance with Section 30 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, at the request of a person or commercial entity, the Garda Commissioner may provide and charge for police services for events on private property or in areas open to the public. The objective in charging for police services is to recover the cost of providing the service.
In addition, I understand that Section 231(4)(j) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 permits the collection of policing costs with regard to events that require local authority licences under the terms of the Act.
I have been informed by the Garda authorities that they seek the recovery of policing costs associated with commercial events that have been organised with the objective of making a financial gain and without specific community or charitable benefit.
However, An Garda Síochána does not seek to recover its costs for charitable events or for statutory national public events such as policing the St. Patrick’s Day parade as these duties are funded by the public purse. Charitable events relate to events organised with the objective of providing a charitable service to the community.
The following table sets out the moneys recouped by An Garda Síochána for policing services at various events over the period January 2010 to May 2017.
I understand from the Garda authorities that it would require a disproportionate amount of Garda time and resources to collate the data necessary to compile a list of events by county.
I trust, however, that the following is of assistance.
|
Category |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
Jan - May 2017 |
|
Sporting Fixtures |
1,176,701 |
2,032,427 |
1,954,323 |
972,856 |
1,467,782 |
1,498,910 |
1,420,910 |
521,275 |
|
Concerts/ Festivals |
1,378,294 |
1,326,765 |
738,284 |
1,009,692 |
1,311,371 |
1,165,786 |
1,277,640 |
149,150 |
|
Other Events |
794,994 |
708,822 |
1,431,949 |
887,190 |
1,677,556 |
1,979,333 |
2,514,397 |
1,071,141 |
|
Total |
3,349,989 |
4,068,014 |
4,124,556 |
2,869,738 |
4,456,709 |
4,644,029 |
5,212,947 |
1,741,566 |
