Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The reality is that if gardaí are called to perform duties, the cost is carried in their standard pay which is covered by this subhead. I recently answered a question on the amount of Garda time and the precise cost connected with the water meter protests. While I was informed by An Garda Síochána that it was difficult to break down the precise costs involved, as one can imagine, gardaí were diverted from other duties to allow people to go about their normal work when trying to install water meters. The use of Garda time, effort and resources to deal with that issue has been a feature of the past year and will be reflected in standard pay costs.