Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 156: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the estimated spend on mileage allowances for her Department in 2007; the number of claimants in respect of categories (details supplied) under which mileage is paid; the total number of claimants; and the total spend on same. [42623/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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It is not possible, from my Department's computerised travel records, to provide details of mileage allowances in the categories specified by the Deputy. Moreover, two different sets of mileage allowances applied in the course of 2007 — one set of allowances applied from 1 January 2007 to 30 June 2007, and a second set applied from 1 July 2007 to 31 December 2007. However, details are provided in the table regarding my Department's total expenditure on mileage in 2007, the total number of miles claimed, the total number of claimants and the number who claimed in excess of 4,000 miles.

It should be noted that the total expenditure provided includes an element of cost on bus and rail travel and some other travel-related expenses which are aggregated with mileage allowances on my Department's accounts system. It is not feasible to identify these costs separately, as this exercise would require every expenses claim processed by my Department in 2007 to be reviewed. No claims were paid by my Department in respect of a bicycle allowance in 2007.