Gardaí overpaid officers and civillian staff €4.25m in the last three years

Ken Foxe

An Garda Síochána overpaid officers and civilian staff to the tune of €4.25 million in salary payments over the past three years.

At the end of last year, the balance still outstanding from overpayments had risen to more than €2.8 million.

Internal audit committee papers said the majority of the cases were linked to sickness absence, with late notification of pay changes identified as a root cause.

One briefing note said the force had discovered cases where its overpayments unit “did not receive any notification” that staff had been overpaid.

Another said a manual process had left “too many opportunities for errors,” according to records that were released under FOI.

The new figures show that €1 million in overpayments were made to 487 gardaí last year, an average of around €2,100 per person.

A further €406,000 was overpaid to 204 civilian staff, roughly €2,000 each.

The amount of money recouped from gardaí last year was just €549,000, with another €174,000 recovered from garda staff.

The end-of-year balance of overpayments for gardaí was €2.18 million, with a further €665,000 owed by civilian employees.

That year-end balance has risen steadily over the past three years from €2.29 million in 2023 to €2.53 million in 2024, before rising again to €2.84 million last year.

Documents from An Garda Síochána’s audit and risk committee said around two-thirds of the cases related to illness.

One report said discussions were under way to improve faster reporting of pay-affected sick leave.

It said there were issues with pensions as well where ex-members should have had payments reduced when they took on roles in the public sector after retirement.

“A formal report is awaited as to the impact of this. It has been advised that it is likely that further overpayments will occur,” the report explained.

Asked about the figures, a garda spokesperson said: “There has been a dedicated focus by An Garda Síochána over the last number of years on overpayments.

“This has resulted in a reduction in money being over-paid and the instances of overpayment. This focus has continued this year and will be maintained as long as it is required.”

The spokesperson added that advisory support was available to make “fair arrangements” for recoupment of the money involved by gardaí and civilian staff.

They added: “The Employee Advisory Service provides this service where hardship is advised.”