Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The important thing is to assure the public that the State will be policed throughout December. The number of gardaí is increasing. We will have 200 more gardaí next month. Since 2014 we have seen the number of gardaí continuously increase. We will also have a recruitment campaign for the Garda Reserve next year. We are seeing an increased number of gardaí. With more gardaí joining the force and more gardaí on the streets, one would expect that the need for overtime would fall. Nonetheless, overtime will always be necessary for policing operations, although with increasing numbers of gardaí one would expect the need for overtime to decrease. To answer the Deputy's question, the Supplementary Estimate which will be voted through tomorrow with the agreement of the House provides additional funds for Garda overtime but, as I mentioned earlier, Garda overtime for December is paid out of the 2018 budget anyway, so no Supplementary Estimate is required for that. The very substantial €100 million Garda budget for 2018 covers it.

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