Garda uniform supplier makes €2.5m settlement with Revenue

Company declines to comment on operational details surrounding €21m contract

The Co Monaghan company that secured the €21 million contract to supply the new Garda uniform made a €2.5 million settlement with the Revenue Commissioners in 2020.

No explanation is provided in the most recent accounts from James Boylan Safety Ltd concerning the Revenue settlement.

The business declined to comment on the operational details surrounding the Garda contract, the firm’s recent financial performance or details concerning the background to the €2.5 million Revenue settlement.

A spokesman said: “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on details relating to any major contracts we hold, nor do we comment on historic or ongoing performance.”

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The company, based in Milltown, Co Monaghan, provides uniforms to a range of other State services, including the Irish Prison Service and Irish Coast Guard.

Its accounts show that the business continued on its growth path in 2020 as pretax profits rose by 159 per cent from €1.33 million to €3.46 million.

The company’s revenues rose by 12 per cent from €17.85 million to €19.96 million.

However, the Revenue settlement of €2.5 million along with an inter-company loan of €306,591 being written off and a corporate tax bill of €217,640 reduced the company profits for the year to €437,419.

James Boylan Safety Ltd has been a supplier to the gardaí for a number of years. Garda Purchase Order figures for three quarters of 2020 show that James Boylan Safety Ltd received payments totalling €3.3 million including VAT.

The spokesman said JBS Group is “proud of and grateful for the business we have from all our clients across Ireland, UK and mainland Europe”.

James Boylan Safety Ltd is a subsidiary of the Monaghan-based Mullan Investments Ltd.

That group recorded revenues of €58.2 million in 2020 and pretax profits of €6.53 million. The Revenue settlement of €2.5 million also appears in the group accounts for Mullan Investments Ltd.

The new operational uniform is being delivered to more than 13,000 uniform members of An Garda Síochána over the next number of weeks.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times