asked the Minister for Justice the cost of the Garda Síochána protection at the recent Sinn Féin conference; and the number of gardaí used for this operation.
Written Answers. - Sinn Féin Conference.
423.
Limerick East): It is contrary to long established practice to disclose information about the numbers of gardaí involved in any policing operation or to give information as to cost which could be used to quantify the number of personnel involved. I can say, however, that, so far as the occasion referred to in the question is concerned — in which, incidentally, the Garda role was essentially concerned with normal policing rather than protection — it was necessary to employ a number of gardaí on overtime and the estimated cost of this, over and above the cost of normal salaries and allowances, was £1,200.