Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 157: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of money spent on hotel accommodation by her Department and each State agency under the aegis of her Department for each of the years 2004 to date in 2008; if she will provide the information available in tabular readable form. [46679/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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As a general rule, staff of my Department who are necessarily detained away from home or headquarters on official business in Ireland on an overnight basis are responsible for the payment of their own accommodation expenses. In accordance with Department of Finance travel and subsistence regulations, staff are usually paid a flat rate allowance in such circumstances to cover their combined accommodation and subsistence costs. My Department does not generally receive or record details of their hotel costs.

Occasionally, my Department organises meetings in hotels which necessarily require accommodation for some staff of the Department. The accommodation costs in such cases usually form part of a wider package of conference facilities and are paid as part of a total invoice. The accommodation costs are not recorded separately on my Department's accounting systems in such instances.

Where an officer avails of hotel accommodation while engaged on official business abroad, he/she may be reimbursed expenses by way of: (a) a flat-rate allowance to cover combined accommodation and subsistence costs, or (b) vouched accommodation costs, with a reduced subsistence allowance.

Any hotel accommodation costs reimbursed by my Department in these situations are aggregated with associated subsistence costs on my Department's accounting systems and are not recorded separately.

Similar procedures also apply in relation to hotel accommodation costs for myself and my Ministers of State. In accordance with Department of Finance travel and subsistence regulations, Ministers and Ministers of State are reimbursed vouched accommodation costs and receive a reduced subsistence allowance for overnight absences on official business, whether in Ireland or abroad. However, the accommodation costs are not recorded separately on my Department's accounting systems.

It is not feasible, therefore, to identify separately the amount of money spent on hotel accommodation by my Department, as this exercise would require every expenses claim and a number of individual invoices processed by my Department to be reviewed. My Department processes several thousand expenses claims each year.

Expenditure on hotel accommodation by the State agencies under the aegis of my Department is an administrative matter for the agencies concerned and my Department does not have direct access to those details.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 158: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the procurement arrangements in place in her Department and each State agency under the aegis of her Department for the sourcing of hotel accommodation for her, for her Departmental staff and staff at each State agency, when overnight accommodation is necessary; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46694/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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As a general rule, staff of my Department who are necessarily detained away from home or headquarters on official business on an overnight basis in Ireland are responsible for selecting their own accommodation. This arrangement also applies to myself and my Ministers of State.

In accordance with Department of Finance travel and subsistence regulations, officials are usually paid a flat rate allowance in such circumstances to cover their combined accommodation and subsistence costs. Ministers and Ministers of State are reimbursed vouched accommodation costs and receive a reduced subsistence allowance.

Occasionally, my Department organises meetings in hotels which necessarily require accommodation for some staff of the Department. The accommodation costs in such cases usually form part of a wider package of conference facilities and are paid as part of a total invoice. Public Procurement procedures apply in organising such meetings.

With regard to the sourcing of hotel accommodation for official business abroad, my Department, together with a number of other Government Departments, has engaged the services of a travel management company to process flight and hotel bookings. The contract for these services was awarded following a public tendering process managed by the Department of Finance. The service provided by the travel management company allows my Department to access competitive hotel rates abroad, often at short notice and in times of peak demand.

In some situations, hotel accommodation for Ministerial visits abroad is organised through the Department of Foreign Affairs or by agencies such as IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. My Department does not have any role in the selection of hotels in these instances.

The procurement of hotel accommodation by the State agencies under my Department's remit is an administrative matter for the agencies concerned and my Department does not have direct access to the details of their procurement arrangements.