Mr. Martin Callinan:

All of the figures for overtime are the result of demand for the services of the individual concerned. A set budget for overtime is allocated to chief superintendents at the start of the year. Inspectors are a divisional resource, in other words, they work to their chief superintendents and superintendents in their respective districts. This means, for example, they are occasionally required to travel significant distances to service the courts. As the Deputy will be aware, we prosecute in the District Court. They are also involved in a considerable range of interfaces with committees, whether in joint policing committees, the health service, justice or the courts.

They have a wide range of duties and their span of control must also be taken into account because as operational officers will have in their charge a number of sergeants and gardaí. At night, when we are all tucked away safely in our beds, inspectors are supervising and directing the officers in their charge.

All of the overtime expenditure is carefully monitored, particularly in the context of the reduced financial and human resources available to us over the past several years. Senior management is acutely aware of how that money is spent. The figures substantiate what the Deputy has pointed out. More than one third of the gross salary of inspectors is consumed by overtime and allowances generally. This is not money that is thrown away like confetti at a wedding, however. There are tight controls and structures around the allocation of overtime. It is probably driven by the range of product that inspectors are expected to deliver.