Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I imagine that many gardaí consider it to be part of core pay given that it has been in place for nearly 90 years.

I was not aware of the non-public duty allowance until we undertook this exercise.

I understand it is paid to gardaí who perform duties at concerts, football matches and so on. I will refer the Commissioner to a line in the business case returned to the Department that states that the allowance is typically paid "out of this fee". The GAA, the FAI, concert promoters and so on pay a fee to the Garda to cover their events within the confines of the stadium, venue or whatever the case may be. According to the 2011 figures presented to the committee, 2,262 gardaí received a 1.5-time rate and a further cohort received double time in the context of the non-public duty allowance. Does the organisation ever suffer a shortfall due to requests for a Garda presence at events? If so, does the taxpayer foot the bill? According to the business case, the fee "typically" covers the cost. This suggests that it does not always cover the cost.