Arnotts Death Firm Has €20m Government Contract

Synergy Security Solutions, the private security company now under scrutiny following the death of Yves Sakila outside Dublin’s Arnotts department store, has also secured a multi-million euro contract with the Department of Social Protection to provide security services across 88 state buildings nationwide.

In a parliamentary response from April 2025 to SocDems TD Holly Cairns, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary confirmed that Synergy Security Solutions Ltd. was awarded the contract in 2024 following a competitive procurement process.

The agreement covers static guarding and alarm response services at Intreo offices and departmental headquarters buildings around the country. The initial two-year contract is valued at €9.83 million including VAT. If two optional one-year extensions are exercised, the total value of the deal reaches €20.6 million including VAT.

The Department of Social Protection said the contract was awarded through a competitive tendering process and includes provision for two twelve-month extensions at the Department’s discretion, which is to be decided in September 2026. 

Earlier, Aontacht has reported on the company’s ties to Israel and complaints of poor training, while the Ditch has covered its links to IPAS centers. 

The revelation comes amid mounting attention on Synergy Security Solutions after video footage emerged showing several members of the company’s staff restraining 35-year-old Yves Sakila outside Arnotts on the 15th of May. In the footage, Sakila can be heard crying out in distress as he is pinned to the pavement before becoming motionless. He was later pronounced dead.