asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the credit, if any, allocated by his Department to other Departments under each Vote in the Book of Estimates in respect of payments made to his Department which exceeded the actual cost of providing postal and telecommunication services by those Departments; the periods in respect of which the over-payments were made; the amount of the over-payment in each case; and if a full corresponding reduction was made in the provision for appropriations-in-aid in the vote for his Department for 1981 to take account of the amount of credits granted to other Departments.
Written Answers. - Departments' Accounts.
180.
My Department send accounts in the ordinary way to other Government Departments for telecommunications services provided for them and no overpayment or adjustment arises in respect of these services.
So far as postal services are concerned Government Departments pay my Department the amount provided for in their Vote; this figure is based on the estimated volume of traffic for the year adjusted in respect of overpayments and underpayments for previous years. Firm cost figures are arrived at from traffic counts taken during the year and any necessary adjustments are made in the Estimates for a subsequent year. The adjustments in 1981 are greater than usual because postal traffic in 1979 was considerably less than expected owing to the long postal strike.
The following statement shows the amount of credits allowed to Government Departments when preparing their estimate of expenditure on postal services for 1981:—
|
Vote No. |
Service |
Credits allowed in respect of over-payments in previous years. |
|
1 |
President's Establishment |
600 |
|
2 |
Houses of the Oireachtas |
43,000 |
|
3 |
Department of An Taoiseach |
3,000 |
|
6 |
Office of the Minister for Finance |
5,000 |
|
7 |
Comptroller and Auditor General |
425 |
|
8 |
Office of the Revenue Commissioners |
1,952,000 |
|
9 |
Public Works and Buildings |
9,000 |
|
10 |
State Laboratory |
200 |
|
12 |
Office of the Attorney General |
13,650 |
|
13 |
Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions |
575 |
|
15 |
Stationery Office |
32,000 |
|
16 |
Valuation and Ordnance Survey |
14,000 |
|
18 |
Office of the Minister for the Public Service |
3,000 |
|
19 |
Civil Service Commission |
16,000 |
|
23 |
Office of the Minister for Justice |
28,500 |
|
24 |
Garda Síochána |
248,900 |
|
27 |
Land Registry and Registry of Deeds |
44,000 |
|
28 |
Charitable Donations and Bequests |
2,000 |
|
29 |
Environment |
30,000 |
|
30 |
Office of the Minister for Education |
47,500 |
|
36 |
National Gallery |
400 |
|
37 |
Fisheries |
6,000 |
|
38 |
Forestry |
13,000 |
|
39 |
Roinn na Gaeltachta |
3,250 |
|
40 |
Agriculture |
392,500 |
|
41 |
Lands |
166,000 |
|
42 |
Labour |
30,500 |
|
44 |
Transport |
12,250 |
|
46 |
Defence |
105,000 |
|
47 |
Army Pensions |
11,000 |
|
48 |
Foreign Affairs |
7,000 |
|
50 |
Social Welfare |
1,550,000 |
|
51 |
Health |
12,000 |
|
TOTAL: |
4,802,250 |
Receipts in respect of both postal and telecommunications services are credited to post office revenue and do not affect the appropriations-in-aid of the Vote for my Department.
181.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will give a breakdown between each vote in the Book of Estimates, of the £415,000 unpaid bills by other Departments for services provided by his Department; and the nature of services provided in each case.
The breakdown of the bills due from other Government Departments for various telecommunication services is as follows:
|
Vote |
Department |
Amount |
|
£ |
||
|
2 |
Houses of the Oireachtas |
31,770 |
|
3 |
An Taoiseach |
1,798 |
|
6 |
Finance |
9,722 |
|
8 |
Revenue Commissioners |
165,637 |
|
9 |
Public Works and Buildings |
23,309 |
|
18 |
Public Service |
35,341 |
|
23 |
Justice |
38,450 |
|
29 |
Environment |
315 |
|
30 |
Education |
8,587 |
|
38 |
Fisheries and Forestry |
7,457 |
|
40 |
Agriculture |
14,997 |
|
41 |
Lands |
16,627 |
|
42 |
Labour |
7,182 |
|
43 |
Industry, Commerce and Tourism |
11,505 |
|
44 |
Transport |
6,294 |
|
46 |
Defence |
21,485 |
|
48 |
Foreign Affairs |
5,257 |
|
50 |
Social Welfare |
3,323 |
|
51 |
Health |
5,813 |
|
52 |
Energy |
131 |
|
TOTAL: |
415,000 |