Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 418: To ask the Minister for Defence the amount of money spent on hotel accommodation by his Department and each State agency under the aegis of his Department for each of the years 2004 to date in 2008; if he will provide the information available in tabular readable form. [46677/08]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 419: To ask the Minister for Defence the procurement arrangements in place in his Department and each State agency under the aegis of his Department for the sourcing of hotel accommodation for him, for his Departmental staff and staff at each State agency when overnight accommodation is necessary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46692/08]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 418 and 419 together.

Where hotel accommodation is necessary, the costs are generally met by the individual staff member out of his/her overnight fixed rate of subsistence as is the case throughout the public service. In certain limited cases, my Department pays the cost of hotel accommodation directly. However, records are not readily available in these cases and it would take an inordinate amount of time and resources to manually compile the information.

I am satisfied that the procurement arrangements in place in my Department and its agencies for sourcing hotel accommodation when necessary are in compliance with the Department of Finance guidelines. Approval for overnight accommodation in relation to official business is sought in advance from a senior official in my Department and sanction is only authorised when it is established that the overnight accommodation is essential. In advance of payment, claims made in respect of overnight accommodation are certified by an authorised official as being in accordance with the provisions of the appropriate Department of Finance Travel and Subsistence circulars. The Department of Finance circulars on Travel and Subsistence are brought to the attention of all staff and are readily available on my Department's intranet site.