Mr. P. J. Stone:

We would consider overtime a cheap form of work. If we did not have a moratorium on recruitment and took in X number of people, could we arrive at a day when overtime would not be an issue? It is my vision that the force would not require overtime to provide a policing service. Equally, if the overtime bill for the Garda Síochána is €220 million or €10 million, 80% of that goes back into Government coffers, which must be recognised in the context of the overall spend. I take the point and I said at the outset that there is a need for some of these allowances to be addressed in a different way.