The “parading allowance” in place since 2016 is using up one quarter of the Garda’s overtime budget, according to Commissioner Harris who appeared at the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday. The total overtime budget in the Garda was now much lower than two years ago. However, that fee is paid in overtime and is now coming out of the force’s total overtime budget. This effectively means that our real operational overtime budget is only €73 million.”Mr Harris said the payment of the overtime fee was “not sustainable”. The review of the parading allowance will be watched closely by the Garda staff associations.

Source: The Irish Times May 09, 2019 11:48 UTC