Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 29 Mar 1994

Vol. 440 No. 7

Written Answers. - Departmental Costs.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

125 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the total number of mobile telephones issued to persons in her office or that of her Minister of State in the past 15 months; the rank of each user; if each user has a telephone allowance; the entire cost of the service including capital cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

127 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the cost, if any, in respect of travel and accommodation for pro-programme managers, advisers, assist-others attached to her office in the past 15 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 125 and 127 together.

The cost of staffing and overheads of my office and the office of the Minister of State at my Department amounted to an estimated £711,000 in 1993. The expenditure to date in 1994 is estimated at £171,000.

I do not believe that the costs of giving detailed breakdowns of this information are justified by any benefit arising.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

128 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the number of members of the permanent Civil Service who accompanied her on her recent trips abroad; the number, rank and status of those other than the permanent service who travelled; the reason these persons were included; the mode of transport used in each case; the costs involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn)

Since the beginning of 1994 I have been abroad on three occasions, excluding my recent trip in connection with the St. Patrick's Day celebrations, the details of which are set out in response to a separate question on today's Order Paper. The details requested by the Deputy are as follows:

Date	Number Accompanying	Mode of Transport	Costs	Purpose
8-12/1/94	2	Aer Lingus	£5,860	Funeral in Boston of the late Mr. “Tip” O'Neill
10/3/94	8	Government jet	£800	Anglo-Irish Conference, London
22/3/94	3	Government jet	£150	Meeting of EU Justice Ministers, Brussels

On each date, the persons who accompanied me were all members of the permanent Civil Service, apart from my visit to Boston, when I was also accompanied by a member of the Garda team responsible for my personal security arrangements. On 10 March 1994, a Garda Deputy Commissioner representing the Garda Commissioner also travelled to the Anglo-Irish Conference on the Government jet, as cross-Border policing was an issue to be discussed at the conference.

The costs shown are the travel and subsistence costs which have been brought to account in the Department of Justice. The costs shown for the March journeys are estimated because certain claims are still in course of finalisation.