Vol. 257 No. 10
asked the Minister for Education the cost of Christmas cards and greetings sent by him and his Parliamentary Secretary in 1970; if postage was provided free by his Department and, if so, the cost in each case; and the estimated cost of cards on order this year and if the cards will be sent free of charge.
24.
andMr. L'Estrange asked the Minister for Education the projected cost to the Exchequer during the financial year 1971-72 of the sending of Christmas cards by him and his Parliamentary Secretary.
25.
andMr. L'Estrange asked the Minister for Education the total number of hours during which civil servants were engaged in sending Christmas cards from him and his Parliamentary Secretary in 1970 and the projected corresponding number for 1971.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 23, 24 and 25 together.
In regard to 1970 the cost in respect of the Minister was £15.74 and in respect of the Parliamentary Secretary £114.74. For the present year the estimated cost is £11 and £65 respectively.
The cost of postage cannot be calculated as, in accordance with longstanding practice, the envelopes are franked and issued as part of the ordinary Departmental post.
It is not possible to divorce any part of the official time spent by the staff concerned in the dispatch of Christmas cards from the rest of their official time and, accordingly, the number of hours involved cannot be calculated.
Are we to understand that this is a contribution towards killing inflation?
That is a different question.
It arises out of the Minister's reply. It states that the expenditure this year will be half what it was last year and I have asked whether this is a contribution towards the efforts of the Minister for Finance to fight inflation.
The Deputy is being facetious.
Do the Minister's figures give the complete cost to the taxpayer when the time of civil servants is taken into account?
The Deputy is rather annoyed about the figures I have given.
Would the Minister not consider that much more time is spent in going into detail in order to be able to reply to this ridiculous question——
Hide it under the carpet.
