Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the total amount spent on taxis by his Department since February 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37329/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I can inform the Deputy that while the recording of expenditure on taxi services does not allow for the precise identification of all the spend under this heading, the identified spend since 11 March, 2011 by my Department is set out in the following table.

The amount of money spent on taxi services has been significantly reduced over the past number of years with every opportunity taken to reduce costs in light of budgetary constraints. My Department also re-tendered in 2010 for the provision of taxi services and the contract was awarded to a new provider which has resulted in further savings. In addition, the Department has made use of two official vehicles which can be configured as the need arises for use as people carriers or for carrying materials. The use of these vehicles not only assists in the efficient discharge of Departmental business but has also given rise to significant savings in taxi costs which would otherwise be required in the absence of such a facility. The Departmental policy is that taxis may only be used by staff for business reasons where absolutely essential and where public transport or other cheaper alternatives are either not available or are not viable.