My Department has implemented a new financial management system, or FMS, from July 2004. The FMS operates in several ways for the payment of mileage expenses. The normal method of claiming is through an expense system which calculates the amount due against the appropriate rate tables. The number of miles is stored by the system in these cases. Other travel expenses are calculated on sub-systems and the total amount due paid through the FMS system. The number of miles used in these calculations is not stored on the system. The number of miles recorded on the FMS for the period July to December 2004 is 187,416 at a cost of €173,735.19.