Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 50: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amounts spent by previous Ministers and Ministers of State within his Department on subsistence, mobile phone communications and recouped expenses, with indications given to the portion that are both vouched and unvouched for each year from 1 January 2007 to 9 March 2011 inclusive; the extent of such expenditure that was discharged directly by his Department on behalf of the Minister concerned; the extent to which the expenditure was discharged by credit card directly by or on behalf of the Minister involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35504/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The following table sets out the subsistence and mileage expenses paid to previous Ministers and Ministers of State of this Department during the period 1 January 2007 to 9 March 2011. The table also includes official mobile phone charges paid on behalf of Ministers during this period:

All expenditure is paid on a vouched basis apart from subsistence and mileage expenses relating to official travel which are paid at Department of Finance rates and in accordance with normal regulations. Official mobile phone costs were paid directly by the Department to the service providers.

In addition to the above, the Department paid directly for a range of services related to the conduct of the Ministers' official business, including airfares, hotel costs, car hire, airport charges, etc.

Some of these were paid by credit card and the amounts have been accounted in the Department's Financial Management System. In the time available, it is not possible to carry out the extensive research that would be required to identify the individual amounts that used a credit card as the method of payment.