In the fictional world of mystery books and thrillers, the private eye is a cynical, world-weary creature with a thirst for the office bottle and handy with his fists. No-nonsense men for hire in a gritty, amoral land.
In the Irish setting, real-world PIs carry titles such as Knight Investigations and Protocol Security Services.
And one of their most notable clients, new information reveals, is the Government.
In a parliamentary reply revealing extensive public work by a squad of private eyes, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris said the State paid almost €1.8 million for multiple PIs to look into people who had initiated legal cases against it and to find witnesses.
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The work was done for the State Claims Agency (SCA), the body charged with resolving personal injury and third-party property damage claims against the public authorities.
The agency paid out €388.58 million in damages in 2024, in cases related to clinical care, crashes, collisions and exposure to psychological, physical and behavioural hazards.
“The SCA procures these services as part of its claims-management remit to include, for example, assisting it in locating a witness to an event that is the subject of a claim, so the witness can provide evidence where required,” it said in reply to questions.
The names of 19 PIs were provided by Harris in reply to a question from Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.
Some 893 payments from 2021 to February 2026 cost €1.77 million.
Harris said the number of payments “does not equate to the number of times a private investigator may have been engaged, nor is it an indication of the number of claims to which they have been appointed”.
The top three combined received more than €1 million: Abbey Investigations (€401,310), Premier Insurance & Legal Services (€322,198), and Spotlight Investigations (€300,025).
The next three were Protocol Security Services (€237,542), Deely Investigation Consultancy Services (€165,188) and Axis Investigations (€148,751).
Confidential Investigations Athlone received €170.
