Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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696. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of credit cards issued to Ministers and officials working in his Department; the amount spent on credit cards by his Department in 2014 and in 2015; the amount of bank interest paid on credit cards in 2014 and 2015; the controls in place to monitor the issuing of and the expenditure on these cards; the controls in place in each agency to monitor expenditure on personally held credit card bills that are subsequently used to recoup work-related expenses; if these controls are being reviewed in view of recent events in agencies funded by the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24748/16]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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697. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of credit cards issued to staff working in each State agency funded by his Department, in tabular form; the number of cards per funded agency; the amount spent by credit card in 2014 and 2015 by each agency; the amount of bank interest paid on credit cards in 2014 and 2015; the controls in place to monitor the issuing of and the expenditure on these cards; the controls in place in each agency to monitor expenditure on personally held credit card bills that are subsequently used to recoup work related expenses; if these controls are being reviewed in view of recent events in agencies funded by the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24763/16]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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698. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of credit cards issued to staff working in any third party agency funded by his Department, in tabular form; the number of cards per funded agency; the amount spent by credit card in 2014 and 2015 by each agency; the controls in place to monitor the issuing of and the expenditure on these cards; the controls in place in each agency to monitor expenditure on credit card bills that are subsequently used to recoup work related expense; if these controls are being reviewed in view of recent events in agencies funded by the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24778/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 696 to 698, inclusive, together.

There are six credit cards administered by my Department. Five are held by officials and one is held by the Pensions Ombudsman. No credit cards have been issued to Ministers of my Department.

Credit cards are only issued following approval by the Department’s Accounts Branch.

The amount spent on credit cards and interest paid is detailed in tabular format:

All staff members issued with cards are requested to sign a conditions form for the use of the card.

The conditions include the following control measures:

a) The card is kept safely and that it is immediately reported if the card is lost or stolen

b) The card is only used by the card holder

c) The credit limit is not exceeded

d) The card is used for official purposes only and that rules governing the expenditure involved are strictly adhered to

e) Bills are paid promptly –the necessary documentation must be submitted to the department’s Accounts Branch in order for the bill to be paid on time

f) The card is cleared of any liabilities and submitted to the department’s Accounts Branch for cancellation on moving from the job in respect of which the card is required.

Invoices and/or receipts must be provided for all expenditure, and these are sought and matched to credit card statements by my department’s Accounts Branch, who process all departmental credit card bill payments. Accounts Branch review all invoices and/or receipts and credit card statements to ensure compliance with conditions. Credit Card expenditure is controlled as set out above, and is not subject to further review at this present time.

The statutory bodies funded by the department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Council, the Pensions Ombudsman and the Social Welfare Tribunal. As mentioned previously, the credit card for the Pensions Ombudsman is administered by my department. Information in relation to the other statutory bodies is set out in the following tables.

2014 Expenditure

2015 Expenditure

Controls