Mr. Michael Culhane:

In accordance with section 30 of the Garda Síochána Act, if a company or an individual requests police services, if the Commissioner is satisfied that the company can pay for the cost of the services, those services will be provided.

There is a HQ directive which sets out a rate per hour per member, depending on the rank, when we have a clearly defined event space. Where events are happening in an open area, which is subject to a licence from the local authority, it directs that the event organiser should contribute or pay for the costs of the policing operation. The policing operation in that instance is not just merely policing the event space itself but there is also a very substantial traffic management plan. In that instance we seek to recover the cost of the traffic management plan as well as the policing cost associated with the particular event space itself.