I propose to take Questions Nos. 296 and 298 together.
I am not in a position to provide the information sought by the Deputy. As the Deputy may be aware, there are about 24,000 staff in my Department and its associated twenty four public bodies. This includes large nationwide organisations such as An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service and the Irish Prisons Service. To seek to obtain all the information sought, would require a disproportionate use of time and resources, which cannot be justified at a time when there are numerous demands on the public bodies concerned.
Maintaining national representation at EU, Council of Europe, UN and other International fora primarily accounts for expenditure by my Department on foreign travel. I wish to inform the Deputy that the travel and subsistence information requested for the years 2009 and 2010 is available in the Revised Estimates Volume for each of the years concerned. Copies of these documents are available on the Department of Finance's website (www.finance.gov.ie) and in the Oireachtas Library. I also wish to refer the Deputy to the Revised Estimates Volume for 2011 which contains full year Estimates information for my Department. Copies of this document are available on the Department of Finance's website (www.finance.gov.ie) and in the Oireachtas Library.