Motor travel rates are designed to recoup civil servants for the cost of using their cars on official business.
The expenses that are covered by the motor travel formula can be broken into two categories; the overhead and the running costs. The overhead costs include the cost of replacing the car, insurance costs, AA/RAC membership, driving licence and car tax. The running costs include the cost of maintenance, tyres, oil and petrol.
Overhead costs are incurred whether the car is used on official business or not. The overhead costs are front loaded in the 0 to 6437 kilometre category. In effect 48% of the overhead costs are recouped in the first 6,437 kilometre category while the other 52% are recouped in the next 21,000 kilometres.
The purpose of front loading the overhead costs is to ensure that more of those costs are recouped to officers in recognition of the fact that they are using their own cars on official business and that some officials may be undertaking small amounts of travel.
If the rates were not front loaded in this manner, the motor rates for the highest category of car would be constant at about 33.54 cent per kilometre (rather than 59.07 cent for the first 4,000 miles and 25.53 cent thereafter).
It needs to be borne in mind that all travel and subsistence rates were reduced by 25% from March 2009 and have not been amended since then. It was estimated that at the time of the 25% cut the savings that would accrue to the Exchequer would be of the order of €45 million.
Information is not available in my Department to undertake the calculations of total civil service travel as requested by the Deputy.
