Over €189m of overtime paid to gardaí last year
Ken Foxe
Gardaí were paid more than €189 million in overtime last year, with some members cashing in to the tune of more than €50,000 each.
One inspector was able to earn an extra €65,008 on top of their ordinary salary, according to records released under FOI.
At least 20 officers earned more than €53,500 in overtime pay during 2025, An Garda Síochána said.
The overall overtime bill was €189.01 million – the equivalent of around €13,000 per member of the force, based on the latest figures for garda strength.
A further €4.5 million was paid to staff members of An Garda Síochána, of whom there are currently around 3,500.
The average overtime payment per head for staff was far lower than the garda equivalent at just under €1,300.
An Garda Síochána said the €193.5 million total bill should be considered as a draft figure until their accounts were examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
A list of the top 20 overtime earning gardaí showed they shared a combined pot of around €1.1 million.
Three officers earned more than €60,000 on top of their normal wage, with payments ranging from €60,277 to €65,008.
A further ten gardaí took home between €55,000 and €60,000 in overtime, according to the data.
Rounding out the top twenty were seven officers who earned between €53,531 and €54,780 in additional pay.
The Dublin Metropolitan Region accounted for more than a third of the overtime bill with €71.4 million in payments.
Over time, a total of €31.8 million was paid in the North Western Region and €30.5 million in the Eastern Region.
There was also €25 million worth of overtime earned in the Southern Region and €34.8 million in HQ and national units, including units that investigate drug crime and fraud.
An Garda Síochána said they would not provide the total take-home pay for the twenty officers who earned the most in overtime.
They said they considered this personal information and their earnings needed to be protected in “a confidential and secure manner.”
