A number of new gardaí have been overpaid by the State and will have to pay the money back.

A technical error at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Payroll Services saw 196 probation gardaí being overpaid between €200 and €500.

For 97, the overpayment was €487 each. For 99, it was €221 each.

They have all been contacted now and arrangements are being made for the overpayments to be refunded.

The issue was identified by an audit late last month.

Garda management say they only became aware of the issue late last night and moved as quickly as possible to clarify the situation.