The bill to the Government is hosting the six-month EU Presidency to the end of August totals €75.2 million.
That is according to new figures provided by the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Jack Chambers.
In the figures provided in a written Dáil reply to Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn , Minister Chambers reveals that the largest spend by any Department to date has been €26.3m by the Dept of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.
Ireland commenced hosting the EU Presidency on 1 July, and garda overtime would account for the largest portion of the Department of Justice spend, where Minister Chambers further disclosed that the Dept of Foreign Affairs spend on the EU Presidency to the end of August was €20.3m.
The bulk of the spend has been made by the two Government Departments along with the Office of Public Works (OPW), which has spent €19.6m on the EU Presidency to the end of August.
In his written Dáil reply, Minister Chambers stated that revised Government Estimates 2026 allocated €300m to cover the costs of hosting the EU Presidency.
A large contributor of the overall bill is the costs of An Garda Síochána, which has been allocated €125m for the EU Presidency duties.
Minister Chambers said that “the final costs of the Irish Presidency will not be known until 2027, once all the work is complete, and the final bills are paid. In the meantime, every effort is being made to ensure costs are being well managed across all areas”.
The disclosure of the figures comes ahead of one of the flagship events of the EU Presidency, an International AI Summit taking place in Dublin this week.
In a separate Dáil reply to Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Niamh Smyth TD has stated that the final expenditure incurred in respect of the International AI Summit will be confirmed following the conclusion of the event, once all associated costs have been discharged and the necessary financial reconciliation has been completed.
Minister Smyth stated that the overall budget for the International AI Summit has not yet been finalised.
The Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan TD, previously told Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward TD that An Garda Siochána has been allocated €125m for EU presidency-related costs.
He said: “An Garda Síochána will be responsible for the safety and security of all events hosted in Ireland during our Presidency, which will include 22 Ministerial-level events, a meeting of the 27 EU Heads of State, and a meeting of the 47 Heads of State who make up the wider European Political Community as part of an overall programme of some 250 events.”
Minister O’Callaghan said: “This is a very significant undertaking and will involve significant additional overtime and related costs, additional training and equipment costs, as well as a requirement for the purchase of additional fleet and other specialist equipment.”
