22 March 2005

Foreign Affairs

Mileage Expenses

Ciarán Cuffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount paid out, and the total mileage registered in mileage allowances claimed by employees in his Department in the last period for which figures are available.

Minister For Foreign Affairs: The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for two Votes – Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs) and Vote 29 (International Cooperation).

Under Vote 28, the Department of Foreign Affairs, in 2004 paid mileage expenses of €266,892.11 in respect of claims for 256,120 miles and €115,624.26 to cover rail and bus ticket expenses.

For the same period, expenditure under Vote 29 on car mileage expenses was €35,370 in respect of 40,382. Bus and rail fares are not analysed separately under Vote 29 but expenditure is estimated to amount to approximately €5,000.

These amounts represent all mileage and bus/rail fares paid both at Headquarters and at our 67 Missions abroad and include travel costs associated with hosting the EU Presidency in 2004.