Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 January 2005
99 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance the number of credit cards issued for departmental use to Ministers, Ministers of State or others; the person or persons authorised to use such cards; the circumstances in which use is permissible; the number of occasions on which they have been used in the life of the Government; the purpose of such use; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2270/05]
View answerThe number of departmental credit cards in use in my Department varies from time to time depending on the Department's business needs. Since the formation of the Government a total of 18 departmental credit cards have been in use by office holders and officers in the Department. Currently 14 departmental credit cards are in use.
Departmental credit cards are issued to named individuals on the basis that the card is for official purposes. Departmental credit card bills need to be approved by the Department's corporate services division prior to payment. Two of the Departmental credit cards in use are held by officers in corporate services division and the administration unit of the centre for management and organisation development. These credit cards are held for general usage, mainly for the purchase of low value or urgent items such as the purchase of books, travel bookings, subscriptions to periodicals etc. and on average each credit card incurs usage of approximately 70 transactions per annum.
In the case of the remaining 12 departmental credit cards in use, one is held by me, as Minister, and the remainder are held by senior officials, including the press officer, my private secretary and special adviser and the private secretary to the Minister of State. The principal usage of these credit cards relates to official expenses in connection with travel abroad, accommodation and official hospitality. While varying somewhat between cards, the average usage of these credit cards is approximately seven transactions per annum.
