Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 30 Apr 1997

Vol. 478 No. 5

Written Answers. - Departmental Costs.

Ivor Callely

Ceist:

46 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Finance the total expenditure by his Department for each of the years 1995 and 1996 on consultants, ministerial programme managers, advisers, contract staff, non-Civil Service staff and public relations contracts; the cost of his phone and mobile phone bills and those of the Minister(s) of State, the cost of photography to his Department; the number of times ministerial air transport was used for this period; if he will give comparative figures for each of the years 1988 and 1989; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11576/97]

Minister for Finance (Mr. Quinn)

With regard to the cost of consultants engaged by my Department in 1995 and 1996, I refer the Deputy to my reply to written Parliamentary Question No. 29 of 13 February 1997.

The information requested by the Deputy regarding the salaries of non-established contract staff, the cost of public relations contracts, telephones and photography and the use of the ministerial air transport service (MATS) in 1995 and 1996 is set out below:

	1995	1996
	£	£
Salaries of non-established contract staff	223,254	315,244
Cost of public relations contracts	2,900	—
Cost of telephones	11,187.37	15,976
Cost of photography	2,231.82	5,289.25
Number of occasions when MATS used*	10	40

*It should be noted that on a number of these occasions more than one Minister or Minister of State travelled on the MATS, particularly during the period of the Irish Presidency of the EU in the second half of 1996.

The work involved in providing the Deputy with the comparative figures for 1988 and 1989 would require an inordinate amount of time and effort which I do not consider to be justified.