Over €1.6m spent on security at politicians and officeholders homes in last 18 months

Ken Foxe

More than €1.6 million has been spent fitting or upgrading security systems at the homes of politicians and other officeholders since the start of last year.

There has been a significant rise in expenditure by the Office of Public Works (OPW) over the past 18 months against the backdrop of the growing threat from far-right activists and extremists.

The latest figures show the OPW paid out €809,000 for security systems at the private residences of 11 individuals in the first six months of this year.

Details of which politicians and officeholders are involved are not provided on the basis the information could be used by right-wing extremists or criminals.

However, it is known that works generally relate to at-risk Oireachtas members, ministers, judges, officials of the Criminal Assets Bureau, and former officeholders like Taoisigh or ex-Presidents.

Along with the total yearly security bill, the cost per project has increased markedly over the past seven years.

However, there is no way to figure out whether that is for more sophisticated or enhanced security systems or down to increased installation costs.

In 2023, a total of €826,816 was spent on private residences covering the cost of ten different properties, at an average cost of €82,681.

In the first six months of this year, the OPW has spent €809,023 on eleven separate projects at a cost of around €73,500 each.

Bills in previous years were lower with €586,358 spent in 2022 with the average cost of 11 security installations working out at just over €53,000.

In 2021, the overall bill was €707,787, which covered the costs of works to 14 private dwellings at an average of roughly €50,500.

In 2019, when the OPW fitted security at 20 different homes, the bill for each project worked out at just €42,500 for each house.

Overall, just under €4.7 million has been spent since the start of 2018 on 89 private dwellings, at an average cost of €52,626.

The Office of Public Works had previously refused to release any data on security expenditure at private homes saying it could endanger life or security of a person.

However, the Information Commissioner ruled under Freedom of Information laws that aggregated yearly data could not be used to identify any person or property.

Security concerns for politicians have grown dramatically over the past three years, with masked protests outside some homes and bomb threats made against Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Taoiseach Simon Harris.

An Garda Síochána also recommended restoring trained police drivers to all government ministers in 2022 following a review of security.

Decisions around works at private residences are only made following security reviews by gardaí before being given to the Department of Justice for implementation.

Asked about the expenditure, the OPW said: “We do not have any further comment to make at this time.”