Donald Trump’s visit forecast to cost Garda up to €30m

The visit of US president Donald Trump to Ireland at the start of September is forecast to cost An Garda Síochána up to €30 million. The policing operation was entirely publicly funded, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly confirmed to the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday.The final figures for the cost are not yet available and actual expenditure may be lower. .“We think we’re going to come in under what we forecast, but obviously we’re still waiting on some of the claims, particularly for overtime and subsistence,” he said.READ MOREThere were “a number of elements to the visit”, with Trump visiting President Catherine Connolly in Dublin, travelling to Doonbeg, and at the Irish Open golf tournament.[ Was Catherine Connolly ‘trolling’ Trump by giving him an obscure medieval book?Opens in new window ][ ‘He’s keeping our village alive’: Doonbeg residents prepare to host Donald TrumpOpens in new window ]“We weren’t down there to police the golfing event, we were down to protect the president of the United States,” Kelly said.The Oireachtas committee also heard that gardaí have made 17 protected disclosures so far in 2026, with a total of 113 made since the start of 2021.The Garda has examined the functioning of its protected disclosure unit following allegations of targeting of staff members who identified potential wrongdoing in the organisation, Kelly said.The commissioner said he was “very content” with its policies and structure but “it would be remiss of me really not to relook at that and to make sure everything we have in place is absolutely rock solid”.[ In pictures: Donald Trump’s visit to IrelandOpens in new window ]Garda management was questioned about revelations in the recent RTÉ documentary that alleged maltreatment of whistleblowers and protected disclosures.Garda Assistant Commissioner Catharina Gunne stated that 20 protected disclosures were made in 2021, 15 in 2022, 26 in 2023, a further 12 in 2024 and 23 in 2025. So far in 2026, some 17 disclosures have been made.Following on from the RTÉ programme, Kelly said he had met the senior leadership team of the Garda and “looked at what we are doing in this area”. He also “interacted extensively” with Transparency International Ireland, he said.Kelly said the force has done “considerable work in strengthening” its protected disclosure unit and now has a full-time manager of the unit.The commissioner said the Garda “certainly want people to come forward” should they be aware of wrongdoing in the force, in response to questions from Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan.Kelly said he has not reviewed any protected disclosure files from before or during his time as commissioner and only has a “very limited role” in that area, but noted he has “absolutely no concern around any decision” made by former Garda commissioner Drew Harris. Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly arriving at Leinster House, Dublin to appear before the Public Accounts. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire Separately, the committee reviewed the force’s €590,000 spend on hotel accommodation over three nights for members policing the 2024 Uefa Europa League final, which was held at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The committee heard that a Comptroller and Auditor General report said 40 per cent of those costs, or €248,500, was on accommodation that was never used. The full €7.8 million spent on policing the event was borne by the State.[ New Garda spending rules to follow booking of nearly €250k worth of unused hotel roomsOpens in new window ]The committee heard that the use of a manual spreadsheet left a number of gardaí booked into multiple rooms in the same and different hotels. Some 13 gardaí were assigned two rooms in the same hotel, and 11 were assigned two hotel rooms in two different hotels.Weaknesses in planning by the force were identified, with no public procurement process being carried out. The rooms, the committee heard, were booked in bulk before the Garda knew the staffing requirements of the event.