Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 131: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 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. [35506/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has referred to a number of categories of expenditure and I propose to deal with each category individually. In the time available and due to the way the information is recorded on my Department's Financial Management system, I have presented the information by Minister and will provide the information by year as requested by the Deputy when this becomes available to me.

With regard to subsistence, I am interpreting the Deputy's question as relating to subsistence paid by my Department to Ministers and Ministers of State from the 1 January 2007 up to 9 March 2011; details of subsistence paid in this regard are set out in Table 1 below.

The Deputy is also seeking indications of the portion of the subsistence that are both vouched and unvouched for each year. Hotel costs and subsistence costs are aggregated on my Department's Financial Management System and it is not feasible, therefore, to identify separately the vouched/unvouched aspects of the subsistence paid since 2007.

The original payment method, whether by cash or credit card, is not captured by my Department's Financial Management System as it is not material to the reimbursement of subsistence expenses incurred and borne in the first place by the individual.

Table 1

With regard to the second element of the Deputy's question relating to mobile phone communications my Department has paid directly to mobile phone providers an amount of €65,762.73 on behalf of the Ministers and Ministers of State.

The Deputy's questions also refers to recouped expenses and I have set out in Table 2 below the amount paid in Ministerial Allowances, by Minister and Minister of State in the period.

Table 2

Further, during the period expenses in the amount of €47,426.02 covering official entertainment and business meetings were incurred in respect of the Offices of Ministers and Ministers of State by my Department. It not possible to identify from my Department's Financial Management System the amount that directly related to the Ministers as opposed to costs incurred by the Offices of the Ministers.