612. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the amount spent on Garda overtime in each of the past ten years; the amount that has been spent to date in 2026; the proportion of that expenditure which relates to vacancies that have not been filled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51892/26]

The Garda Commissioner is responsible under section 33 of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 for the management and administration of Garda business. This includes all internal HR matters, the setting of overtime budgets for each Garda Division/national unit, and the recording of overtime data.

The nature of Garda work and the requirement that the Garda authorities respond, in some cases at short notice, to immediate policing demands means that there is a necessity to use overtime to ensure effective policing. Accordingly, there will always be a need for a certain level of overtime to allow An Garda Síochána flexibility when responding to circumstances that require additional resources for specific operations. These additional resources will have to be over and above those available from Gardaí on rostered duty thus ensuring the continuation of normal policing duties unabated.

An Garda Síochána publishes data on the overtime payments made to members of An Garda Síochána. The data for 2017 to Q2 2025, the latest date for which figures are available can be found at the following link:

https://www.garda.ie/en/information-centre/freedom-of-information/publication-scheme/budgets-and-spending/overtime-reports.html

When available, these reports will be updated for Q3 and Q4 of 2025 and Q1 and Q2 of 2026.

Additionally the published appropriation account for An Garda Síochána include the final audited overtime figures for each year.