It is my Department's policy to have in place an official credit card account under which credit cards are issued to the Minister(s), Private Secretary to the Minister and certain senior officials. As of now, eight cards have been issued. However, I do not use an official credit card. One of the cards issued under the account is for Departmental use in the case of exceptional purchases or bookings where a credit card is required by the supplier and can only be used with the prior approval of the Finance Officer.
The total costs incurred on these credit cards between June and December 2006 was €7,965.29, while expenditure to date in 2007 is €28,579.34. No interest charges have been incurred on the Department's credit card account.
Prior to June 2006, the arrangements in place for the provision of credit/charge cards to Ministers and Departmental officials was on the basis of individual cardholders being personally liable for all charges incurred. Where expenditure was incurred for official purposes, such costs could be reclaimed by the cardholder in accordance with Department of Finance rules on travel, subsistence, entertainment etc. As charges incurred on all such cards were the specific responsibility of the cardholder and not the Department, records are not available on the overall usage of these cards prior to June 2006.