An Garda Síochana has said that almost 200 new gardaí were overpaid 'over a period of months'.

In a statement, Garda officials say 97 probationer gardaí were overpaid €487 each, while a further 99 received an overpayment of €221.

The issue is said to have been the result of a 'technical error' at the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform’s Payroll Shared Services Centre.

The Garda statement says: "At this time, none of this overpayment has been taken back from the probationer Gardaí.
 
"All 197 probationer gardaí have been contacted today by Garda management to inform them of this error and to make arrangements with each individual for this overpayment to be managed. The GRA has also been communicated with them on the matter."

The issue was identified by an audit late last month.

"Garda management only became aware of the issue late last night and moved as quickly as possible to clarify the situation," the statement adds.