Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 160: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the amount spent by his Department on drivers and Ministerial transport since February 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20713/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Government introduced a number of changes for the provision of Office Holder transport during 2011. One of the consequences of that decision was that the transport arrangements in place for Ministers of State became applicable to Government Ministers, subject to very limited exceptions on security grounds. In addition, it was decided that former Presidents and Taoisigh would only be supplied with official transport for important State occasions. The revised transport arrangements came into operation for Government Ministers on 1st May 2011 and for former Office Holders on 16th June 2011.

The Garda Commissioner is the Accounting Officer for the Garda Vote. In that context, I am informed by the Garda authorities that records in relation to the cost of providing Office Holder transport have not been maintained in a manner which would allow for the identification of costs associated with individual Office Holders. However, the Garda authorities have indicated that total expenditure on the provision of Office Holder transport in the period February 2011 to March 2012 was €4,625,296. The costs arising in 2011 included costs associated with this service prior to and after the change of Government, including under the new transport arrangements which have been introduced.

In 2010 expenditure on Office Holder transport amounted to €7.5m. In the circumstances significant savings have been achieved within the Garda Vote and I also understand that overall the revised arrangements have considerably reduced the level of expenditure on Ministerial transport.