Concert promoters and sporting bodies paid An Garda Síochána close to €7.2 million last year for policing of major events.
The Electric Picnic festival accounted for the biggest bill, with EP Republic Limited paying more than €412,000 to the force.
Charges for providing non-public duties by An Garda Síochána are likely to rise after a 2024 report from the Comptroller and Auditor General which said private companies were being undercharged.
Costs in 2025 totalled €7.19 million, of which €1.15 million was paid by MCD, the country’s largest concert promoter.
That included €142,000 for the two Oasis concerts that took place in Croke Park in August of last year.
Around €376,000 was paid by MCD for a series of concerts at Marlay Park in June 2025 and €173,000 for events at Malahide Castle.
The National Ploughing Championship paid An Garda Síochána €267,000 for policing duties during the annual festival.
Aiken Promotions forked out €169,000 for concerts by Zach Bryan while Bord Bia paid €77,000 for policing bills for the Bloom Festival in Dublin’s Phoenix Park.
Other sizable bills included €272,000 from the IRFU for rugby matches and €419,000 from the GAA for football and hurling games.
An Garda Síochána said all of the €7.19 million charged last year had been recouped from the companies and organisations involved.
Existing Garda policy allows charges to be reduced or waived based on an event scoring system, with full cost recovery applying for scores of 31 or more.
In a report in 2024, the Comptroller and Auditor General said the standard €45 hourly rate for each officer up to inspector rank had not been tested against actual policing costs or updated after pay rises in April 2023.
It said that An Garda Síochána could not establish whether the charges recovered an appropriate share of the costs.
Asked about the figures, a garda spokesperson said commercial entities could be charged for policing duties both inside and outside venues.
They said: “The decision on deployment of Garda resources is ultimately a matter for An Garda Síochána and will be agreed with the commercial entity in advance of the event.
“An Garda Síochána is to introduce a new charging regime for non-public duty following recommendations on this matter from the Comptroller and Auditor General.”
