A district Court ruling on a garda's subsistence claim, which could have left the State exposed to substantial retrospective payments, has been overturned by Judge John O'Hagan in the Circuit Civil Court.
Garda John McLoughlin of Malahide had been awarded a £254 subsistence allowance for security duties over a 12-month period at the home of the former justice minister, Mrs Nora Owen.
He claimed the allowance on overtime he had accumulated for notional travel time spent walking the four-fifths of a mile to and from his station to the minister's home at Ardnamara, Malahide.
Under a 1975 Dublin Metropolitan Area directive allowing overtime for time spent travelling to and from a point of duty, Garda McLoughlin claimed 30 minutes' overtime to and from Mrs Owen's home, as well as subsistence.
Mr Paul McDermott, counsel for the Garda Commissioner, successfully argued that the 1975 directive had been amended by another in 1976.
He also successfully rebutted claims that the 1976 directive had never been circulated to the 3,500-strong force in the Dublin Metropolitan Area.
Judge O'Hagan said a subsistence claim based on an assessment of notional time could not be allowed in law, since the Supreme Court had held such claims had to be based on actual time.
He noted Garda McLoughlin's claim for subsistence on notional half-hour travel periods, both to and from his station, contrasted with his actual overtime claims of only 15 minutes for each journey.
He said that having regard to the complexity of the matter he would not make an award of costs against Garda McLoughlin for the hearing, which lasted just over two days.