Vol. 563 No. 5
96 Mr. O'Dowd asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the number of credit cards or charge cards on issue from his Department and held at political or political adviser level on which the membership or credit card tax is paid; the sums, if any, paid by the Exchequer on these cards for the year ending 31 December 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8391/03]
No such cards have been issued by my Department to political activists or political advisers and there are no plans to do so. For the sake of completeness, my private secretary was issued with a departmental credit card in July 2002. The total paid in respect of transactions on this card in 2002 was €1,172.46. The private secretary to the Minister of State was issued with a departmental credit card roughly three weeks ago. As no bills have yet been received for this card nothing has been paid to date.
The question of a membership fee does not arise. No tax has been paid on either card. I am informed that the practice is that the tax, which amounts to €40 per annum, is paid in April of each year. The use of credit cards is only one of a number of payment methods used by the Department which include payment by cheque and electronic transfer. All expenditure paid for in this way is processed in the normal way and accounted for under the appropriate heads.
