Gardaí paid Revenue settlement of €800,000 after members were renting State-owned properties below market rate
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/gardai-paid-revenue-settlement-of-800000-after-members-were-renting-state-owned-properties-below-market-rate/a/162768831.html
Gardaí paid Revenue another settlement of €800,000 after members were renting State-owned properties below market rate
https://x.com/Gardawhistlebl1/status/2108180058758426948
An Garda Síochána had to pay a tax settlement to Revenue of around €800,000 after it emerged that around 50 State-owned properties were being rented to garda members below the market rate.
The force still has “matters to attend to” with Revenue on the issue that it hopes will be settled by the end of the year, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
Current garda members are renting out around 77 State-owned properties, with a number being rented at a price that is considered lower than the market rate.
An Garda Síochána will now carry out a rental market evaluation “to understand scope and scale” of any outstanding issues.
Some of the properties had not been rent reviewed for a “considerable period of time” and there are still outstanding taxation matters “to attend to” with Revenue, said An Garda Síochána chief corporate officer Siobhán Toale.
“We’re currently working with the OPW to ensure that any matters in relation to Revenue and benefit-in-kind are dealt with through a structured process, some of those properties had not been rent reviewed for a considerable period of time and there are matters for us to attend to in that regard,” she told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee on Thursday.
“We have people in properties where the rent has not been reviewed upwards in a number of years. These properties are owned by the OPW.”
Ms Toale said there must now be a rental market evaluation conducted to “understand the scope and scale of any matters that need to be remedied”.
In response to questions from Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan, Ms Toale said An Garda Síochána made a voluntary disclosure on the issue to Revenue in 2023 and both bodies are now in the “final stage” of engagement on those matters.
A settlement of around €800,000 for two years was made at the time in relation to around 50 of the OPW-owned properties being rented by garda members below the market rate.
Asked whether there will be a further settlement made on the issue, Ms Toale said there “may be” once discussions and audit-testing with Revenue are concluded.
“Members are renting properties at a particular market rate and the issue arises because there is a view from Revenue that the rent that the members are paying is not at the market rate that it should be. Those rates have not been reviewed upwards, it is a complex enough matter,” she said.
Gardaí made the voluntary disclosure on the issue to Revenue following an internal audit in 2023.
While former Garda Commissioner Drew Harris also lived in an OPW-owned property in the Phoenix Park during his tenure, there were “absolutely no irregularities whatsoever” in relation to his accommodation and the tax liability.
The committee has also heard that Gardaí spent nearly €590,000 on accommodation for gardaí who were policing the Uefa Europa League Final which took place in the Aviva Stadium two years ago, but just over 40pc of the accommodation was never used by garda personnel despite being paid for by the State.
It amounts to €248,500 worth of accommodation that was not used.
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https://x.com/Gardawhistlebl1/status/1764421877743735065
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https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2026/10/07/new-garda-spending-rules-to-follow-booking-of-nearly-250000-worth-of-unused-hotel-rooms/
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