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AN GARDA SÍOCHÁNA failed to provide auditors with approval records for overtime payments despite repeated requests for the documents.
A review of a €201 million annual overtime bill found supporting paperwork was unavailable in 45 of 67 cases selected for testing.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) found examples where members were paid for more hours than were authorised.
In two cases, more than 50 hours of overtime was paid without the required approval from a senior officer.
Ten payments could not be examined after An Garda Síochána failed to organise a meeting requested on several occasions by the C&AG.
The audit said: “A meeting with members of the [garda] team to carry out elements of the testing, including overtime approval, was not arranged despite a number of requests to do so.”
The report said the system created a risk of errors, overpayments or the misappropriation of public funds.
It said there was no overarching policy on overtime in place even as costs involved had more than doubled in the space of five years.
From 2023 to 2024, costs increased from €184 million to €201 million, a rise of 11%.
During its examination, the C&AG found three cases where gardaí received more money than was approved.
It found multiple instances of sergeants signing off overtime for other sergeants, and a case where an inspector cleared paperwork for colleagues of the same rank.
The report also found “instances where members booked other members in and out of their tour of duty in the absence of appropriate approval from a more senior rank.”
The C&AG also reported it had sought access to An Garda Síochána’s internal system for monitoring overtime.
However, access was denied due to the limitations of the system and because audit staff were not trained in how to use it.
The garda roster and duty management system also could not determine which overtime resulted from illness or other staff absences.
The C&AG said An Garda Síochána needed to review its policies and procedures for managing attendance and overtime.
It said this would help “ensure they are applied accurately and consistently across the organisation in order to mitigate any processing errors on payroll.”
A garda response said significant consultation had taken place, and it was anticipated that new policy and procedure would be implemented during 2026.
It said during 2025, there had been “considerable focus on the drivers and costing of overtime.”
Its response added that work had taken place to manage the “cost-effective deployment” of garda members during the EU Presidency.
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