Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 317: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of departmental credit cards in use in his Department; the names of the authorised signatories of same; the credit limit of same; the amount spent in respect of each card in each of the past three years with a breakdown of the annual bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26566/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for two Votes: Vote 28 Foreign Affairs and Vote 29 International Cooperation. The Department operates a restrictive policy for the use of corporate credit cards for official expenditure. The use of credit cards in making payments is subject to the same authorisation and control procedures as other forms of payment. While the credit card companies require that the accounts be operated by named authorised signatories, it must be stressed that they are used exclusively for official, rather than personal use and commingling is not allowed.

There are currently 6 official credit cards in use by the Department in Ireland (3 for Vote 28 and 3 for Vote 29). A list of authorised signatories for these official credit cards; the credit limits on the cards, and details of the amount spent on each card in the past three years are set out below in tabular form. Please note that credit limits do not apply in the case of American Express cards, but that these accounts must be paid in full every month. Official credit cards may be permitted for use at Missions abroad subject to Headquarters approval and compliance with the Department's policies on use of official credit cards. There are currently 12 official credit cards in use by Missions, all of which relate to Vote 28 Missions.

I regret that it is not possible to provide the Deputy with a breakdown of the annual bills in the time available. The use of official credit cards may be permitted for officials who, because of the nature of their work, need to make official payments on credit from time to time. Credit cards are typically used to make occasional flight and hotel bookings, for representational purposes and for making sundry payments, at short notice, where cash may not be acceptable or where the cost involved would otherwise be too great to be met from an officer's own resources. The issue of a credit card to the Department's librarian is to facilitate the purchase on-line of books and information materials relevant to the work of the Department, and the Finance Unit credit card is used for miscellaneous purchases and subscriptions.