Garda gets nearly €7m to cover sports and music events

The Garda has received nearly €7 million in funding over the past two years from concert promoters and sporting organisations.

In a Dáil parliamentary question, Tommy Broughan TD asked Minister for Justice Alan Shatter to reveal the amount paid to the Garda for policing sporting and music events from 2012 to 2013.

According to the figures, Garda payments came to a total of €6.98 million.

Sporting events contributed the largest income, with the Garda earning nearly €2.93 million for providing security at events over the last two years, while concerts and festivals added €1.75 million to the earnings.

The provisional figure for the total revenue in 2013, which includes sporting events, concerts and music festivals, stands at just over €2.85 million, nearly €1.3 million less than the previous year.

Earnings on sporting fixtures took a dip of over €980,000 in 2013, while revenue from cultural events climbed more than €270,000 to just over €1 million.

The Garda also earned a total of €2.3 million for working at “other events” in Ireland over the two-year period.

Section 30 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 entitles Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to charge for police services on non-public duty at commercial events.