Mr. Martin Callinan:

That was how it evolved and the Deputy is right, overtime is regarded as an allowance within the organisation. Whether that should be the case I do not know. The bottom line is that it is another expenditure that must be catered for so I do not worry about where it sits. People could be forgiven for looking at the Garda Vote and seeing overtime as discretionary but I assure the committee that is not the case.

People forget that we are a security as well as a policing agency. The shocking and appalling events of this morning, with the outrageous murder of a prison officer, Mr. David Black, in Northern Ireland, demonstrate there are people on the island of Ireland, on both sides, who do not conform with or subscribe to the democratic process. It is important, therefore, that I have a fund available to me to allow my officers to operate, particularly along the Border and when dealing with the so called "dissident" IRA. The new rostering arrangement, where there are greater numbers of people on the streets at the time of greatest demand, does not always cater for the unique sort of duty the Garda Síochána must fulfil. Many of them were adverted to earlier, we have all sorts of public order issues - demonstrations at Shell to Sea, Shannon Airport and Occupy Dame Street, and animal rights and similar groups to police, over and above our normal complement.

Add to that our international, European and national responsibilities in the context of State security and preventing attacks against this State and Northern Ireland. We have been extremely busy on that front over a number of weeks, particularly in the last three months. That is why when focusing on overtime, I must have that spend available to me over and above normal wages and salaries. That is the real point I am making.