Audit reveals Cork City Council overtime bill ran to €8.3m in 2024

Cork City Council employees were paid out more than €8.3m in overtime in 2024, as there was a sharp increase in employees earning more than €20,000 on top of their regular salary.

The council said a significant element of the overtime cost related to the city’s fire department.

The Local Government Audit Service, an independent body under the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage that audits local authorities, has said that this is an ongoing issue.

The 2024 audit report into Cork City Council stated that, in previous audits, concern was expressed regarding the levels and oversight of overtime.

It added that the overtime cost for 2024, at €8.3m, represented an increase of almost 28% when compared to the 2022 cost of €6.5m.

“This level of overtime needs to be considered by management in the context of the annual workforce plan and the council’s duties to discharge its responsibilities for staff welfare and value for money,” the report stated.

The auditor also noted a significant increase in the number of employees earning over €20,000 in overtime.

The overtime figure for 2023 was €6.8m, Cork City Council told The Echo. Around €21.6m in overtime was paid out in three years.

Audited

The 2025 annual financial statements are being audited by the local government service, so the 2025 overtime figure is not yet available, the spokesperson added.

The LGAS report shows that, in 2024, 121 employees earned over €20,000 in overtime, with a total of €3.7m paid out on top of regular salaries to the highest earners.

This marks a significant increase from the previous two years when 86 employees were paid overtime of over €20,000 in 2023, and 85 in 2022. A total of €2.5m in overtime was paid out in 2023 and €2.4m in 2022.

Council chief executive Valerie O’Sullivan said: “The level of overtime will be considered by management, and a review of compliance with the Organisation of Working Time Act will be conducted.”

Notable issue

Cork City LGAS report from 2023 stated that overtime is a particularly notable issue in the fire department, with the council “reliant” on overtime to deliver fire services, and the overtime for the fire unit having risen from €775,000 in 2022 to €905,000 in 2023.

The 2022 audit report shows €6.5m in overtime was paid out in 2021, €5.8m in 2020, and €5.9m in 2019.

A council spokesperson told The Echo the €1.8m increase in overtime between 2022 and 2024 was in part due to the cost of running a fourth fire pump to cater for part of the extended city, which accounted for €900,000 of the increase.

Increases in hourly rates accounted for a further €500,000 of the increase. A further €400,000 was down to the cost of overtime to cover vacant posts.

“The process of recruiting staff takes time,” the spokesperson said. 

“In the interim, the service needs to be maintained, and the only way to maintain services is to allocate additional duties to existing staff in addition to their own duties.” It was pointed out that the 2019 boundary extension resulted in a five-fold increase in the local authority’s administrative area.