Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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Question 713: To ask the Minister for Defence the amount of money that was spent on taxis by his Department in the past year; the amount of money that has been provided for in the next year for taxi services for his Department; the times that taxis can be used by staff members; the terms under which staff members can use taxis; the amount that was used by staff members; the amount that was used by outsiders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22732/11]

Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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Question 721: To ask the Minister for Defence the amount his Department has spent on taxis for staff and for others in each of the past four years. [23295/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 713 and 721 together.

The amount of money spent on taxis by my Department in each of the past four years is as follows:

No specific allocation is made for the provision of taxis in my Department's annual Estimate. In accordance with Department of Finance guidelines, staff of my Department are required to use public transport wherever possible where travel is deemed necessary for business purposes. The hire of taxis to travel to and from meetings is only permitted where no suitable public transport is available or feasible. My Department only provides taxis for non-staff members on an exceptional basis on very rare occasions. While it is not feasible to extract the exact amount spent over the past four years, the amounts involved are negligible.