asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state (a) for himself and (b) for his Parliamentary Secretary the cost of officially provided Christmas greeting cards sent in 1968; if the postage was provided free by his Department and, if so, the cost in each case; if he can give an estimate of cards on order for this year under each heading; and if the cards will be sent post free.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Christmas Greeting Cards.
118.
The cost of the cards was (a) £3 15s and (b) £76 5s 9d.
He had a few friends, had he not?
There are two people involved.
The items were franked "Official Paid" in accordance with long established practice. The value of the postage involved was approximately (a) £1 and (b) £53.
The estimated cost of the cards ordered for this year is £55 and the same postal arrangements will apply as in previous years.
As I understand it Ministers have considerable control over the behaviour of their Parliamentary Secretaries. I heartily approve of the Minister's own behaviour in this regard, spending £3 15s, and I would not criticise Ministers at all for sending out Christmas cards. I approve heartily of what the Minister has done but should he not have kept his Parliamentary Secretary in order?
I was the Parliamentary Secretary.
(Interruptions.)
Did I hear the Minister say that the cost of the cards was £76?
Yes. £76 well spent. £76 5s 9d to be precise.
What was the cost of the postage?
There is no definite check on this but it was approximately £53.
That seems to be a mistake, does it not?
No, as the Taoiseach mentioned yesterday, in a Department like the Post Office there is a considerable amount of communication with postal administrations all over the world and postage of this nature can be quite sizeable.
I am not questioning it at all. What I am saying is that £53 to send out £76 worth of cards seems wrong.
It was all registered post.
To Mongolia?
Not in certain instances, as far as foreign post is concerned.
Could the Minister tell us how much this represented per card?
I could not really.
Surely the Minister knows how many Christmas cards he sent?
The Chair understood the Minister to say that he could not really give the answer.
If he knows what the postage was, surely he knows how many Christmas cards he sent out?
How many were there?
Somewhere in the region of 3,000 to 4,000.
All to Laois-Offaly?
(Interruptions.)
No. It should be made quite clear that this is the whole object of the exercise in relation to these questions from the Deputy. These cards did not all go to Laois-Offaly. A number of them went into Laois-Offaly. I make no bones about it. Let me make this quip: as a commercial Department no card was sent to anybody who was not a customer of the Post Office.
(Interruptions.)
Everybody is a customer of the Post Office.
It was an exercise in public relations.
This is an exercise in comedy.