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THE MINISTER FOR Small Business John Perry has claimed the most of all government ministers in mileage allowances over the past year it has emerged.
The Sligo-North Leitrim TD claimed €31,866 in mileage allowance in the past 12 months according to figures disclosed in answer to 15 parliamentary questions tabled by Fianna Fáil environment spokesperson Niall Collins.
Collins asked for “the amount of expenses claimed on a monthly basis since March 2011 by all Ministers attached to his Department” of each of the 15 ministers and received responses from all but one of the, Health Minister James Reilly.
The figures were examined by the financial blogger NAMA Wine Lake who has been through the figures in this post.
The expenses exclude the three cabinet members who have a ministerial car and drivers including the Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, and Justice Minister Alan Shatter.
All other ministers must use their own cars however they are each entitled to drivers and are entitled to claim mileage as well as accommodation expenses.
The figures also reveal that Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Minister Jimmy Deenihan, a TD for Kerry North-West Limerick, has claimed over €24,000 in travel expenses.
He is followed by Finance Minister and Limerick TD Michael Noonan who has claimed over €23,000.
The figures also reveal that Perry’s fellow junior ministers Michael Ring, Minister for State for Tourism and Sport and Mayo TD, and Ciaran Cannon, Minister of State for Training and Skills and Galway East TD, each claimed over €22,000 in expenses for mileage and accommodation.
Labour Minister of State for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock, a TD for Cork East, claimed over €20,000 in the year to March.
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€31,866, facepalm.
If you want the job, you should pay for yourself to get to work like we do in the real world.
If that doesn’t suit, go back to being a teacher.
I don’t get it, how can you spend on travel total of yearly salary of average Irish worker?!
To the moon and back because that’s where most of them live
What rate do the get per km? Would be interesting to see just how many km Perry did and then look at were he traveled to last year.
Scrap travel charges
Perry is obviously a SUPER junior minister….for something or other.
Is this on top of the declared expenses?
Ah well they have to make money some way ! They are earning less than the masters !
From the Biography of a Junior Minister:
“While disappointed at not attaining higher office, he knuckles down and determines to make the most (out of) the position in which he finds himself”
I am not sure how balanced this is. If you read the blog it seems that the figure is a cumulative total for mileage AND accomodation. I think it would be much more useful to break down what was mileage and what was accomodation, then we could get a clear picture of where money was being spent. I travel for business and my costs would not be too far off this but I have to account for every KM driven and ever cent spent on accomodation. Why are we only given a headline figure without the supporting detail?
I think it is interesting that the rate per KM for cars of 2L or over is 70.8c. It costs me roughly €100 to fill my car and I get over 1000KM to a fill on a mix of urban and motorway usage. That exuates to a cost of 10c per KM and even considering cost of insurance, tax, maintenance, wear and tear etc, I struggle to see how an allowance 7 times that is justified. It also seems to encourage the use of larger vehicles which is directly at odds with the Government’s own green agenda.
You could also take issue with some of the TDs with very little in the way of expenses – why are they not out and about around the country doing their jobs?
nope its just mileage
The M.P. In the UK go to jail for fiddling expenses are there any such laws here ?
Ministers from the west coast have high mileage, you don’t say!!
I think all expenses should be vouched for but let’s not kid ourselves that we can have no expenses and expect rural constituencies not to be left at a representative disadvantage.
30k? It would be cheaper to rent him a place in Dublin…
David, How much did the non-government party TDs claim in expenses for milegae? They all have to travel to work too … You can be damn sure they didnt claim this amount.
@david higgins
Did you change your profile pic so people wouldn’t recognise you and give you multiple red thumbs for every comment you make?
David I live in Donegal and had to travel to and from St.James’s a couple of times a week for 7 months when my brother was diagnosed with Leukaemia…do you think I could have claimed travel expenses? And im not on a salary of€92,000pa.
@Daniel: All TDs need to go back to their constituencies to keep in touch with constituents. It would be unhealthy for politics for all our TDs to live permanently in Dublin. Issues important to rural Ireland would slip off the agenda and even a Dub like myself knows that’s not fair.
@Cal I have said they should all be vouched for. That’d provide transparency so we can judge if it’s being spent properly. Ministers will always have more mileage because of the nature of their work. TDs have less demands on them so less mileage.
@Gerard You’re one of the many people on this site who seem to have an obsession with how I post on this site. I have both a twitter and Facebook account. If you click on my name, you’ll see the difference.
@Joe I agree with you 100% and have thumbed up your comment. People who are rurally isolated and who have to travel long distances for access to essential care should receive mileage. It’s something the government should look at introducing in the future.
People you no idea of how wasteful this is. The rate for an articulated truck in Ireland going to Europe is between 65c/km to 80c/km that would include road tolls which could account for up to €1000 per week. I will gladly go to the public accounts hearings for free to go through these travel claims. This is total corruption.
You’d swear none of them knew the distance before actively campaigning to get into the Dàil, paid to get in and out of work, and these are the upholders constitution of the which states , that everyone in the republic is equal! So where can we send our mileage receipts to, answers on a brown envelope only!
It just turns the stomach. When they were in opposition they condemned this behavious in Fianna Fail. but we now know it was all a ruse to get elected. We were fooled because we were lied to. We need legislation to abolish an abusive usless government when the majority of citizens reject it. This waiting for another 5 years is unacceptable. By then we will be on our knees and up to our necks in debt.
Does that include Hotel charges.
have your say