Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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360. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide details of the criteria employed when assessing certain public events for the purpose of charging organisers for policing services; her views that the practice of charging small community and voluntary groups as well as non-profit organisations for policing services is acceptable; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25920/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Section 30 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 provides a statutory basis for the Garda Commissioner, as Accounting Officer for the Garda Vote, to charge for police services on a non-public duty basis for commercial events such as sports fixtures and concerts.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the cost to the event holder is determined by the number of Garda personnel deployed. The operational plan for a particular event is formulated by local Garda management. The objective in charging for police services is to recover the cost of providing the service. I am further informed that An Garda Síochána does not seek to recover its costs for charitable events or for national public events such as policing the St. Patrick’s Day parade which are funded by the public purse.