The bill for the visits of the Queen and US President Barack Obama to the Republic of Ireland was €40m (£35m), almost double the previous estimate.
Some Irish politicians reacted with shock yesterday when Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter revealed the cost of the "massive garda effort" - which accounted for €36m (£32m) of the final bill.
It prompted complaints that the security operation was "over-the-top" - and some of the money would have been better spent on reversing special needs cutbacks.
But at the Oireachtas Justice Committee yesterday, Mr Shatter defended the cost of getting thousands of gardai to provide security for the Queen and Mr Obama.
"The vast scale of the security operation put in place by An Garda Siochana was commensurate with the very real security threats involved," he said.
Source and full story: The Belfast Telegraph, 14 July 2011
