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THE DEPARTMENT of the Taoiseach spent almost €25,000 on its credit cards in Enda Kenny’s first year in charge.
Documents obtained by TheJournal.ie show the Department of the Taoiseach ran up €24,594 in credit card bills between March 9, 2011 – the day Enda Kenny took office – and the same date in 2012.
The documents, which cover the period from January 2011 to May 2012, detail a total of €32,272 in spending – and cover all manner of transactions from online newspaper subscriptions to hotel bookings and the occasional bar bill.
The €24,594 in spending in Kenny’s first 366 days in office is over €9,000 higher than the figure indicated by similar records in 2010.
It is significantly lower than 2008, however, when €79,410 was spent – including €22,461 on entertainment – on 29 different Departmental credit cards.
The Department currently holds eight credit cards – three of which are held by the private secretaries to the Taoiseach and the two junior ministers in the Department, chief whip Paul Kehoe and EU minister Lucinda Creighton.
Other cards are held by the heads of the Department’s IT, management services and library units, its chief finance officer, and the assistant secretary in charge of European and international affairs.
Among the highest charges on the cards within the 17-month window covered by the documents are two payments to Independent News & Media, each worth over €1,500, made about 14 months apart. This is likely to refer to newspaper subscriptions.
Other significant payments include a €1,216.55 bill for Publicis, a global PR firm which handled communications at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Its bill, for €1,216.55, is higher than Enda Kenny’s hotel bill for his stay: that came to €1,019.92.
Further accommodation costs on the cards include a €922 stay at the Hotel Silken Berlaymont in Brussels, which coincided with a meeting of the European Council at EU headquarters, and a €788 stay at Belfast’s Europa Hotel during November’s meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council.
Stays at hotels in Brussels and the Hague feature regularly on the cards, which are to be expected given the volume of European Union events attended by Kenny, Creighton and other senior figures from the Department.
Other major features include four separate transactions between December 2010 and April 2012, totalling €2,159.52, from the online electronics shop Pixmania.
Among the transactions on the cards are less self-explanatory, however, including:
A Department of the Taoiseach spokeswoman declined to offer a direct explanation for any individual transaction when questioned by TheJournal.ie.
The spokeswoman said, however, that Department credit cards were used “for official purposes only” and were only allocated to officials whenever they would be “of practical use in meeting the requirements of official business” such as covering accommodation costs.
The use of official credit cards is closely monitored by the Department’s Finance Unit. Expenditure must be supported by receipts submitted by card holders each month and the associated expenditure approved in accordance with procedures.The allocation and use of official credit cards arereviewed on an ongoing basis, with a view to minimising the number of cards allocated, and credit limits are assigned in line with requirements forofficial use on a case by case basis.
The total number of cards held by the Department has fallen sharply in recent years; as recently as 2008, no fewer than 29 cards were issued to the Department. That figure fell to 25 in 2009, 19 in 2010 and to its current level of eight in 2011.
Credit card spending in 2008 stood at €79,410 – of which almost a third, €22,461, was on ‘entertainment’.
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Talk about taking the piss, does he actually spend any of his own over inflated wages, what a waster
The political game is to milk the country / system for as much as you can and for as long as you can.
Not spending their salaries plus the above is why we have multi-millionaire members of the Dail.
Anyone thinking that all this couldnt be true is just fooling themselves.
Harpurlee that vulgarity is unecessary. Are you unable to speak The Queen’s English without resorting to lower class expressions that glorify your under achievements in life both socially and educationally.
The article makes clear that these are eight cards held by different officials. And there is no evidence that any of the purchases are for personal use. Credit cards are generally used for entertaining visitors or for paying hotel bills during official business trips abroad etc.
Ah come on! I’d highly doubt that he’s bringing European leaders to the palace and other bars for a pint.
I can understand some of it but bits of it are a joke.
@Mark You’re making the same mistake as others in attributing all expenditure personally to the Taoiseach. This could have been one of the Ministers of State or a senior official bringing a contact for a drink.
@insider
Point taken, but the palace?! Have you seen the skanks that hang around there?!
:)
I’d love to know what they spent 2K on in Pixmania. Its probably Ednas new iPhone that he keeps in his inside pocket while flaunting his old battered Nokia to the financially broken average Joe.
Since it’s our money that they are spending.
It would not be unreasonable to ask that
(1) Receipts stating the specific items purchased.
(2)Names of who the items were purchased for.
and
(3) The purpose the items were purchased for
are all published and made available to the public.
taxpayer should not pay for alcohol under any circumstances.
So if we have State guests over for dinner we only give them miwadi?
Ciaran when the toasts were offered in Dublin Castle at the State Banquet for the Queen of England could you advise us in a somewhat rational and intelligent fashion what we should have in the glasses if you believe the taxpayers should not pay for alcohol.
Please force yourself to say OOPS.
Dear Lord, the Joe Duffy brigade are out in force today!
@Mick Collins. Shouldn’t have had the queen of England over in the first place
Royal Reception at Farmleigh! BYOB
23 Normans and counting … :)
Donal McCarthy – the Dept. of Foreign Affairs has an extensive and very valuable wine collection and in the year up to March spent 50,000 euro on wine (google it for the IT article). I seriously doubt anyone popped into Tesco for a few bottles of Chardonnay. . But this isn’t about wine for foreign dignitaries, this is about bar tabs being paid using government credit cards.
Indeed Denise; however, I was responding to Ciaran who said that the taxpayer should not pay for alcohol under any circumstances. Which just seems silly.
Wrt to the bar tabs, have you never had a drink bought for you by your job for working late or at the end of a big project?
Or do you really think that someone who works in the Department of the Taoiseach is going on the lash with the card and then submitting it as an expense?
Donal – I can honestly say I have NEVER had any employer buy me a drink out of tax payers money. In fact in my most recent post working for an Irish university the staff paid for and supplied the wine and the food for the external examiners out of our own wallets. These highly respected academics from universities across the globe are vital to ensuring standards are maintained in our universities – but our universities can no longer afford to buy them a cup of tea – never mind biscuits or a glass of wine.
Donal – we also pay for our own subscriptions to academic journals and any books etc needed to do our jobs.
The Tesco spends sound like the family weekly shop…lol
“Every little helps!!”
A €243.10 bill incurred at a Tesco . It’s nice to see to Irish business being supported.
Tesco bills are probably for nappys before heading to to Germany!
Tesco do sell alot of Irish products, just because it is not an Irish company does not mean they do not support Irish business, Tesco also sell alot of Irish prducts in the UK.
I never said they don’t sell a lot of Irish products, the profits do go back to the UK though. I hope just hope they got good value for whatever they bought. €243.10 could feed a family of 4 for a week, I wonder what they bought?
And the taxes and employment stay in Ireland.
As would the taxes and employment stay in Ireland if they shopped in an Irish owned supermarket.
So should all foreign companies stay out of ireland?
Absolutely not, as a private citizen you are free to spend you money however you want. All things be equal though the taxpayers money should be spent as much as practically possible supporting native industries.
ask marty whelan
he is currently advertising for Tesco, encouraging people to ignore Eason’s
doing his bit for ireland presumably
Tesco also employ a lot of Irish people and pay a lot into our economy. They offer competition to prevent a monopoly and over pricing.
Ireland of the 80s, Dunnes stores, Roches stores, Quinnsworth, Aerlingus. prices where high products very expensive. Competition is good for the consumer. Foreign companies employ thousands of people in Ireland and pay taxes to Ireland. And competition is what we want as consumers.
A spend in Tesco could be for any number of reasons. It could be wine for a reception, stationary goods, electronics…..
To say it was someone’s weekly shop is just an idle conspiracy.
Isn’t 800 years supposed to get a mention as well?
Pierce, where the profits from Tesco go is such a trivial matter it doesn’t require reply. Tesco employ people in Ireland and pay Irish tax. and buy Irish products. Do you want to punish musgraves for reinvesting the profit they make back into stores in Spain ? hardly.
Sorry Bilbo, I don’t think it’s trivial at all. If the government are buying something and it is the same price in two shops, one where the profits leave the country and the other were it doesn’t, I think they should opt for the Irish one. That’s my point nothing more nothing less.
Pierce before the likes of Tesco came to Ireland, prices was alot more expensive in Dunnes/Quinnsworth/Crazyprices . To fly to London from Dublin with Aerlingus in the 80s cost £350 minimum. A months wage for some back then. Imagine that today……
£
Mark once again I never said international competition wasn’t anything but good, my point which I am obviously making so very badly is that if somebody is buying something on behalf of the Irish taxpayer, then I think they should opt for the Irish retailer if everything else is even. I am not anti UK, Tesco or any anything else that provides more choice for the Irish consumer.
I understand clearly what you are saying, shop in Irish buy Irish when you can and i agree, what i am saying to you is if Ireland had only Irish companies they would be ripping the consumer off like they did in the 80s before many of the international companies came to these shores. Just because it is an Irish company does not mean the profits stay in the country, shareholders in many Irish companies are from abroad………..
I hope I didn’t come off as some kind of protectionist nut-bag, like people who ran the the country in the 70′s and 80′s. On a personal note, when I am buying anything I will look at value first and who is selling it second, but like I said if it’s the same price in two shops I will probably opt for the Irish one. You are right, the people who own these companies could you are right be from anywhere, but they are more likely to be Irish in what might be pejoratively call Irish companies.
Sure maybe they shopped around and tesco had the best price.
This is red top sensational reporting, come on Journal have a bit of sense, you could do a much better analysis of this data.
This is daily mail type of rubbish reporting. Also why do you ALWAYS put up Unflattering photographs of government members? Expand your library.
@Sarah – Apologies if this sounds glib, but if you have any ideas of better ways to analyse and categorise the data, we’d be more than interested to listen to any suggestions. You can leave them here or email gavan@thejournal.ie if you prefer.
@mcbab – Is that an unflattering picture? It’s the Taoiseach crossing Merrion St, to a row of buildings where his credit cards are presented regularly. It’s as close to a perfectly relevant picture as we could find.
I found this article very interesting,
Sarah, if a person trying to subsists on the dole as much as buys 20 cigs or God forbide a six pack, those folks on the Right of the political spectrum decry the waste and abuse of public monies. Yet when the Journal highlights the same kind of thing in relation to our Greedy Elites they are accused of “sensationalism”
Well said Yvonne.
But what “waste and abuse of public monies” has been uncovered here?
I liked the picture. Enda clearly knew he was being photographed and chose that pose accordingly. Why are you complaining about it?
But of a non-story really. 25k isn’t too much for the taoiseach.
Its not a non-story if it can be proven that personal expenses (eg. weekly shopping) are being charged to the taxpayer.
Theft is theft, regardless of the amount.
I highly doubt that he charged the weekly shop to the departmental credit card.
This really isn’t a story, if he didn’t go to Davos or Brussels the question would be why he didn’t. Or if he stayed in a crap hotel, the question would be why he wasn’t staying in better.
25,000 isn’t that much. Really, in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t.
Agreed Micheal, he may not have, but the problem is that without a totally transparent system of vouched expenses we have no way of knowing.
but these are all vouched expenses?
@Gagsy
We know where the money was spent and how much, but we don’t know what was bought and why…
but we do know that they’re vouched?
are we now expecting every individual piece of itemised expenditure to be published for public assessment? I think we miight need another few thousand public servants to run that system of reporting.
If the story was about thousands or even hundreds being spent without a proper system of vouching and approval I might chime in with some agreement on the comments (and by the way I’m sure there are such worthy stories to be found there) but for me this isn’t that story – this is just a chance for the usual “aren’t they a shower of thieving wasters” type of useless guff that pervades this site.
I understood this was expenditure in respect of the Department rather than the Taoiseach personally?
@Mick
Normal TD expenses are supposed to be related to constituency and other work, not personal expenses, but as we have seen in several high profile cases that doesn’t mean the system doesn’t get abused.
@Gagsy
I don’t know who you’re employer is but if I spent any of my employer’s money they would expect me to account for every cent, and rightly so. Why should politicians be any different?
There is no way that the media can expect a detailed explanation for each item of expenditure of a Government department, whether paid by credit card, bank transfer, cheque or whatever. The cost of providing such information to the media would be ridiculous. Anyway, that’s the job of the Department’s internal audit function, verified by the Comptroller and Auditor-General. There are checks-and-balances built into the system. The media’s role should be to ensure that the Comptroller’s office is properly staffed and to report extensively on abuses discovered. Of course if there is any actual evidence of wrongdoing, – through whistleblowers etc. – then by all means report it. Otherwise, stories like this are just fodder to conspiracy theorists and those who have no clue how an office is run.
but where is the info suggesting its not accounted for?
Of course my employer accounts for my expenditure but every individual shareholder of my employer doesn’t get to – might seem like a nice and transparent ideal but totally unrealistic and unworkable.
@insider
I’m not buying that argument – if the dept can release credit card info, what’s so hard about providing a single sentence explainer for each item, eg. “€208.15, Tescos, refreshments for trade meeting on 19-8-12″ etc..
Its called a petty cash book, the system most widely used in business, where itemised receipts are demanded and expected.
Those who think that this is a non story, and or, that 25k is not worth batting an eye lid for, are obviously those who are not counting the pennies at the end of the week/month trying to buy food to put on the table after the bills have all been paid.
@Ann Reddin @Mattoid Just because details are not released to the media doesn’t mean that itemised accounting isn’t taking place. However, my original point – not made clearly enough perhaps – was that the media can’t expect to be allowed to scrutinise every piece of spending by a Government department. That is the job of auditors, the Comptroller-General, and the Dáil though the Public Accounts Committee. It’s about due process.
Furthermore, what’s so special about credit cards? As long as the balances are being repaid each month, avoiding interest accrual, which I’m sure they are, then spending by credit card is no different than any other form of Government expenditure. Except it makes for more sensational headlines because by their nature credit cards are used for small items of expenditure, usually in the hospitality industry. Goverment Ministers and officials, like all businesspeople, sometimes have to use credit cards to pay such items as hotels and small purchases. But the numbers of credit cards issued to public servants is minuscule, and rightly so.
What official government business did a cardholder have in The Palace on Camden street? Was Enda getting in some moves on the dance floor Incognito hence the photograph? To those who say this is a non story; that’s your money & mine being spent & I cannot remember ever having the opportunity to spend someone else’s money…
That’s the one that stood out for me too, the occasional bar tab or grocery purchase could be put down to wetting a baby’s head, food for donation to homeless or props for publicity stunts. But ‘The Palace’, on multiple weekends, that’s just some cardholder out on the piss, I doubt it was Enda looking for the shift, everyone from Mayo knows you go to ‘Flannerys’ for that!
Perhaps a drink for a visiting Prime Minister or senior EU official.
Given that the Palace is in Lucinda Cretons constituency I would imagine that she and he were tripping the light fandango on the dancefloor at the weekends, while “I’m Too Sexy For My Shirt” and “Another One Bites The Dust” were spinning on the decks.
“Perhaps a drink for a visiting Prime Minister or senior EU official.”
Mick,you are one of the funniest trolls,I have seen in a while.It’s safe to assume that you know nothing of The Palace bar,because if you did,you would realize how utterly ridiculous that comment was.
If the Palace Bar management were handing out free drink and overnight accommadation I wouldnt go to that dump, its only one stop short of a knocking shop. And if any goverment representative brought a visiting politician/dignatory to the Palace Bar for a drink/lunch, they should be fired immediately.
How typically Irish.The more money you get,the less of it you have to spend.
Can’t afford to keep carers in work but hey Enda’s shopping Tesco.A company,I might add that treats it’s staff like crap!!!
I have no personal experience of them, but I was always under the impression that they were considered to be quite a good employer compared to most supermarket chains.
On the surface it would seem like that Mattoid but I know people that work for them.People chasing up their wages every week,employees not being trained probably,employees caught stealing from other employees,which is a sackable offence,only to return to work and find the person still there.This is just a small few and considerably minor in comparison to other things,I would rather not mention here…
Nice to see he’s enjoying himself and well looked after when there is thousands of family’s struggling to make ends meat. Absolute sham of a government. So sickening!!
Good lad,enda!
Oh give me a break. You’re now saying our Ministers can’t enjoy themselves? Leave a serious comment if you choose to but c’mon.
they shouldnt be enjoyin themselves at the taxpayers expence
believe me there more than welcome to enjoy themselves as long as the taxpayer ain’t footing the bill, god knows they get huge enough wages to pay for this stuff themselves!
While 20% of children in this country go to bed hungry every night, seriously thats all right with your. The Dail bar is subsidised, if he wants to buy someone a drink he should do so there.
Where does it say he’s enjoying himself? None of the cards are held by him.
Treating the taxes we pay as petty cash. Yet another way to rub our noses in it…. Nice one Enda.
What’s the point in paying this gimp wages if he doesn’t spend any if it ????
And in that, lies my point.
Do you spend your wages at your place of work? You’re being taken for a ride if you are, because I sure wouldn’t.
Do you not buy your lunch in your place of work or nearby Michael?
Les, I’m not sure where you’re going with that, but I’m the very wrong person to ask about lunch. If its obtained, it’s a rushed affair over paperwork and reading.
LOL! If your lunch is a rushed affair over paperwork how come you have the time to make multiple comments here??? Hmmmm….
Day off?
Enda’s place of work is called “The Republic of Ireland”, so that is a pretty ridiculous question.
@ jrmbc: So if your employer sent you to attend a conference somewhere in Europe for a few days, you would pay for all the flights, accommodation, food and travel would you?
06/10/2011 International Monetary Fund € 81.10. So this is how were paying them back!
more of the same from FF’s cousins. This level of waste would not happen in a private company.
but where is the info indicating money was wasted?
What proof is there of waste? And are you seriously saying that private companies do not entertain clients, buy alcohol, stay in hotels etc. You’ve clearly never worked for the private sector in any position of responsibility.
Private companies do not spend tax payers money on entertaining visitors in Buswells or Doheny & Nesbitts. Nor do they spend tax payers money buying a round of drinks for their hard working employees.
Why was the credit card used in Tesco.Did the dail run out of food for our poor TDs and emergency action had to take place to make sure TDs got there lunch at 1pm.
Denise would you get off your stage…we have seen the salaries paid to University big wigs and the administrative costs of running the same Institutions and if they’re not spending any money on drink please tell me the supplier. I have personally been a recipient of alcoholic beverages on countless occasions and they were NEVER paid for by anybody but the University.
Oh Mick, in your frantic dash for attention you’v replied to the wrong poster, awkward!
first off, who said any of these expenses were enda Kennys? did anybody actually read the article? there are 8 credit cards in the office of the taoiseach, these expenses could be from any one of these people authorised to use these credit cards, I agree, taxpayers should not be funding any politicians social life, nor should the taxpayer be paying for someone to read the paper, ridiculous expenses. a lot of these expenses also seem to stem from Brian cowens era. this is the issue with “some” people leaving comments on these websites, they read tabloid journalism and make decisions without giving the accused a chance to defend themselves.
@gavan, if ye got this information, could ye not have gotten a breakdown on what was spent on each credit card and who is responsible for each credit card?
Did you read the article ? It says in the heading ” the department of the Taoiseach ”
Not that it makes any difference still a disgrace
Hi Brian – On your question about the breakdown of spending on each card:
Unfortunately the records we got (which were on paper – we had to type the records into the spreadsheet by hand) were redacted by the Department before we got hold of them. As a result, we weren’t able to see the exact credit card number, or account number, that was connected to each transaction.
The only way we had of telling the different cards apart was the credit limit on each one. As the Department explained, five cards have limits of €2,500 and three have limits of €4,000. This is why we included the credit limit of each card in the spreadsheet – it’s the only way we have of potentially being able to tell who was responsible for each transaction.
(We’re confused by the bills which said the credit limit was €0, presumably meaning there wasn’t a limit at all.)
For the information of readers, the €4,000 cards are held by the secretary to the Chief Whip, the Finance Officer, and the head of the library services unit.
@Kay, the department of the taoiseach does not mean that enda Kenny has 8 credit cards, it means that 8 credit cards are at the disposal of this department, enda Kenny may or may not have spent a penny on these credit cards, that is why I asked gavan if they had the breakdown as to who was responsible for each card.
@gavan, thanks for your in depth response
Joe, that’s shocking Joe, just shocking.
He’s off there to Davos and Brussels with my hard paid taxes, he should’ve stayed in a hostel Joe.
He shouldn’t have gone to Tescos Joe. I work in Dunnes Joe, it’s more expensive, but at least it’s Irish Joe.
He should’ve run the entire department of the Taoiseach on his own wages Joe. In fact, he should be doing the decent thing by paying the entire social welfare bill on his own wages.
Punctuated with hmmm’s and aaah’s from the presenter, and tell me Mary, where do you work?
Joe, I work 22 hours a week in Dunnes.
Will ya stop, get out!!!!
Typical – the FG trolls can never see the wood from the trees.
The best you can come up with is the FG troll argument?
In my job it is necessary for me to travel around. I might have to meet with clients, reps, colleagues. I am not expected to foot the bill for that myself, because it is part of my work.
It is a similar scenario here I would expect. I highly doubt, after all the various expense fiascos that FF went through, that FG are going to be thick enough to land themselves in the very same pot.
If they are, then fine, I’ll ridicule and throw as many stones as the next man
Until we know they have done something wrong (I mean really know – the above is a very basic listing),then we can only presume the above was legitimate expenditure.
Well said Dermot, Blueshirt Fever is like a disturbed wasps nest
@Dermot – Only out as much as the usual moaning anti-government trolls. Wow, the Department of the Taoiseach uses a credit card to pay for expenses. Dear God, the very foundations of civilisation are collapsing around us!
€25,000 is alot less than Berties €300,000.
well d’uh.
It was meant to be a bit humour, a joke. haha. not for you ehh??
Online electronics pixmania over 2 grand ????
I would guess for a digital camera & photoshop to make Kenny look like a human.
Ann where did you get such a ridiculous idea that twenty per cent of Irish children go to bed hungry every night . You’re becoming a fantasist now.
And before you quote the Report for Geoffrey Shannon you need to exclude those children who were hungry due to missed meals or because they were dieting. If the data was even nominally correct I would be screaming for Social Protection payments to be made with food stamps. The message is to avoid the belief in everything you read.
Try one of these, maybe you should educate yourself on thses matter. You reall should try and verify peoples comments before you start calling the fantasists, all you have managed to do by making that comment is shown yourself to be ignorant of the realities of the impact that paying the bondholders has had on the lives of our children.
Irish Times – http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0417/1224314822826.html
Schooldays. ie – http://www.nuigalway.ie/hbsc/documents/nat_rep_hbsc_2010.pdf
The Journal – http://www.thejournal.ie/growing-number-of-children-going-hungry-to-school-or-bed-report-419677-Apr2012/
Furthermore, it would appear that you believe that children going to bed hungry is a lifestyle choice just like Mehole Noonan believes that the 100s of the thousands of young people immigrating is also a lifestyle choice. And the report I have directed you to is a joint study by the WHO and HBSC.
Smells like corruption to me.
Proof? Or should we arrest the man on your own personal esteemed opinion?
Michael. You want proof? You can’t handle the proof. But here it is anyway and it comes via Gavin Reilly @ The Journal, “the records we got … were redacted by the Department “. Why would the Department redact the records if it had nothing to hide? I want to know what was actually purchased and what the justification for the purchase was in the first place. Unless an individual citizen of this country can claim the same expenses then a Government Department should not have to right to claim the same expenses.
You know why the records were redacted? It doesn’t say it here? So again, proof please?
@ Culm: Your final sentence makes no sense at all. If I, a private citizen, go to Brussels I should be allowed to claim that back from the government should I? Because that is what you are saying!
Personal Drink in pubs and food grocery purchases in a supermarket ? Surely the Taxpayers of Ireland should not have to fit the bill for what reads to me as mainly personal spend .
If I was to use my Firms business credit card in this way , my auditor would be saying to me that I would have to repay it to the Company and pay benefit in kind tax on it?
Does this rule not apply to Enda too?
Who says it’s personal drink? Didn’t read that anywhere. Do you have any idea about corporate entertainment of clients? Well the same thing happens in Government too. Occasionally you need to entertain foreign visitors or dignitaries, being them to a pub etc. It’s just good business. That’s how many deals are made.
Eddie if you open your mind a little you reach for other ideas like the possible entertainment of visiting Dignitaries and Tesco shopping to purchase biscuits and soft drinks for the Meeting rooms within the Department while hosting discussions with those same people. These items were probable purchased by someone en to the Office from home.Why does everyone reach for the ugly explanation. We currently have a Taoiseach who seems modest in his behaviours with a daily walk to his office and a regular user of the bicycle. I don’t recall him either exiting or entering a State car on any occasion and to read the above you would swear corruption was his middle name. Reality tells us that a huge element of the comments on this site come from card carrying and average industrial wage earning members of the slightly constitutional (small c ) party that have nothing else to do with their time.
Real tabloid stuff. Disappointing.
I know it’s only very small figures but what kind of finance department allows interest to accrue on a company credit card? How hard is it for them to simply clear the balance at the end of the month?
I don’t particularly see that much out of order though, I’m slightly disappointed to see a lot of business go to foreign companies (many of the online transactions) but I also know that we’d probably all complain if all the business went to Irish companies and the costs were astronomically high.
I’m a bit surprised with transactions from pubs being charged to a company card without explanation. If the Department had said that it was used to entertain visiting politicians from other countries then fair enough but refusing to comment on the issue opens the door for all kind of crazy conspiracy theories!
Adam would you please tell me how I could purchase the Harvard Review from a local company. Pleas stop being an idiot.
Wasn’t it obvious that I was on about purchases that could be bought in Ireland?
For example, what did they buy from thomann.de, the music superstore? couldn’t they find a music shop in Ireland? Would a bookshop like Easons not have been able to fill any book orders they had?
Seriously, you think an Irish music shop has every single piece of music that was ever recorded. I listen to a lot of European bands and if you could find me one of their singles in an Irish shop I’d buy you a pint. Most of my music I have to buy through Amazon or specific European music shops.
Good job getting the resident crusties foaming at the mouth so early, the journal, although I don’t think it’ll inspire them to get some work unfortunately!
just another greedy politician screwing the ordinary taxpayer. The country is in shit and these boys are ripping us off….the gravy train rolls on!
You should change your name. It doesn’t suit you.
Are we not getting off the point here……Enda is a gimp!!!!!
So there’s complimentary copies of Irish Indo available for example in StStephens green SC but the tax payers is spending thousands to independent news and media to pay for newspapers so they can see what it is the government said , and we wonder why we are $$$$$$
So they should go to Stephens Green and take the papers that Stephens Green SC paid for?
Isn’t that stealing or something?
Not at all Michael, we the tax payers should just continue to line the wallet of FGs best bud O’Brien.
I’m presuming they get other papers delivered too. The world costs money. Nothing is for free. Yes, I might get a service from a friend, does that mean I take it for granted that it’s free? Certainly not. He needs to make a living too.
If that last comment was directed at me Michael, I did not say that they should get anything for free, I mearely stated the facts ie, they are helping out their best buddies wallet and making sure it is well lined for any future party donations he may make.
So how else do you propose they should get their hands on the Independent? It is one of the most circulated newspapers in the country, they need a copy of it, how do you propose they do that, without stealing, and without lining the pocket of the owners?
I suggest that if Edna wants to read the Indo or the Times or any other news publication or journal he should put his hand in his own pocket to pay for it and not the public purse.
No that wasn’t my point , Independent branded boxes with complimentary papers are used there ( they help circulation figures) and in my opinion the govt should ask indo to also send complimentary copies to govt buildings instead of taxpayer paying thousands , I just used stephens green as an example, I would never encoourage politicians to steal ;)
@michael , ok in the overall scheme of things his is small change …..but …you missed my point completely…completely…I was pointing out that a major item on the bills was to pay for newspapers…the same papers companies give out a certain amount of promotional complimentary copies free ( as per my st Stephens green example ) I suggested that it is not beyond wisdom or comprehension to ask for complimentary copies to be sent to the government , so the taxpayer isn’t
Picking up this tab on a credit card for a few grand..that’s all I was saying…..get it…it simple concept I guess I just didn’t spell it out clearly…it doesn’t involve theft …the end
More of the same. Ministers over spending on “stuff”. Its all the one anyway because it would take a sunami to move the Irish to protest about it. We are just too lazy to give a damn and have a lot more than we would like to admit.
*Tsunami.
I’d say there were a few credit cards in use in the Cork area yesterday!
We should be entitled to a more detailed explanation / breakdown on the particular expenses. For example, the spend in Tesco could be for Lotto tickets, cigarettes, gift vouchers, condoms, sanitary towels etc. which are not legitimate expenses, but without itemised details we will never know for sure. Unfortunately the days are gone where we can rely on our public representatives to be honest on our behalf.
The biggest issue here I feel are bar bills, restaurant bills and indeed the shopping. If they want a drink can they not pay for it themselves, likewise with a bit of grub. Who in the name god topped up their leap card that number of times. Doesn’t make sense really. Lads get a grip!
I don’t see any major issues to be honest. Whole load of fuss over nothing… Credit card accounts are used by many private businesses and governments for day-to-day and travel expenses etc. Should we not shout foreign dignatories to a pint and a meal when they visit? Some people will get upset over nothing with the government just for the sake of it. When they actually do something wrong, give them hell! go for it….. stuff like this is a non-story!
It might be a non story for you but it most certainly isnt for the 20% of mothers whose children go to bed hungry everynight, or the the parents who can only afford to put one child though college while condmning their others to life on the dole or immigration.
What has this particular story got to do with hungry kids? This is legitimate day to day spending by government to do their job. The amount of spending is DOWN from previous years for similar expenses….
We are in the situation that we are in, not because of 25 grand on day to day spending like this by our government, but by wreckless banks that the government had to bail out for billions!…. Focus your attention to the real issue, not just a cheap shot at government for anything at all!
PS, I don’t work for governemt or I don’t support Fine Gael in any way whatsoever…. Just trying to provide a little perspective in a sea of ranting looneys!
The issue here is not the amounts spent or where it was spent, but rather the broken promises from Fine Gael before the election about “transparency”, “accountability”, “new politics” and all the other lies. Enda Kenny earns a small fortune – more than David Cameron and here he is swanning around with credit cards than we are footing the bill for. Considering his massive salary (plus expenses) could he not put his hand in his pocket and pay his way? It’s laughable to see the Fine Gaeler’s on here trying to suggest that this is a non-story and mustering as many thumbs down as possible for any comment who dares to question The Great Leader.
Get a hold off yourselves! It couldn’t be Enda’s weekly shop, sure he has a wife that does it for him!
Conquer, devide, delude and control; this is what religion and politics are about! And as we can see from above, they are very good at it! Wake up, unite and make the change you want and be the change you want to see.
+ 80bn
@Con , “credit cards that we are footing the bill for” ??? we bloody well better not be, are you serious?,
Can the receipts be gotten to see what was bought in Tesco etc..? I reckon they’re somewhere like, and if they’re not kept on file is that a breach of the rules?
So no praise that spending is down from 80k in 2008 and that the number of cards has been cut from 29 to 8? I suppose this is to be expected from commenters here. The great unwashed indeed.
it is good to see its come down but to charge the taxpayer for a newspaper subscription is wrong and all items charged should be made public and verified to put peoples minds at ease and to stop the guessing
You look like you could do with a bit of a scrub yourself Philip, and while soap and water will sort out the “great unwashed”, it doesnt seem to work for the majority of Irish politicians.
Here is what they promised before election!
O’Brien, Political Correspondent POLITICAL parties usually make promises aplenty during an election campaign, only to quickly discard them after polling day. This election featured fewer promises than usual, given the black hole in the public finances. Still,itdidnotstopthe parties set to form the new government — Fine Gael and Labour — from making some pledges. The following is a quick guide to some of the things they promised voters: FINE GAEL: * Renegotiate the terms and conditions of the EU-IMF bailout. * No increase in income tax. * Reverse the €1 cut in the minimum wage. * Keep the old-age pensions at their current levels. * Establisha new statebodycalledNewEra to oversee€7bn of extra investment in key infrastructureand create jobs. * Establish a “national internship programme” whereby 23,000 unemployed graduates will get placements in the public, private and voluntary sectors. * Offer 17,000 “back to education” places to former retail and construction workers who did not finishschoolorgo to college. * Force the state-supported banks to publish plans outlining where they can cut costs to forego an increase of a quarter of a percentage point on variable mortgages. * Increase mortgage interest relief to 30% for first-time buyers who purchased their properties between 2004 and 2008. * Replaceany board members in thestate-supported banks who were in place before the guarantee scheme was introduced in September 2008. * Reduce the pay of the Taoiseach, ministers and the 650 most senior public servants. * Hold a referendum to abolish the Seanad. * Stop further asset transfers to the National Asset Management Agency and expose it to greater public scrutiny. * End automatic remission for prisoners. * Reverse the ban on stag hunting. LABOUR: * Renegotiate the terms and conditions of the EU-IMF bailout. * Extend the deficit reduction deadline to 2016 so that only €7.1bn rather than €9bn of adjustments are made between now and 2014. * No increase in income tax for those earning less than €100,000. * Reverse the €1 cut in the minimum wage. * Prevent cuts to Child Benefit. ( Prevent the introduction of a graduate tax for third-level students. * Establisha €500m jobs fund to financea series of “pro-jobs initiatives”. * Establisha strategicinvestment bank to get credit flowing to small businesses and create more jobs. * Create 60,000 new training, education and internship places to help unemployed people get back to work. * Ensure a two-year moratorium on house repossessions. * Pass legislation to abolish upwards-only rent reviews for commercial leases. * Prioritiseschool-building projects in a revised national development plan so schools currently spending hundreds of thousands of euro on prefabs can build permanent accommodation. * Introduce a public service pay cap. * Hold a referendum to abolish the Seanad. * Curtail any further transfer of assets to NAMA. * Hold a referendum on gay marriage
You forgot to mention Labours, college fee promises and no introduction of water charges.
WFT??????
03/03/2011 Pearl Brasserie € 561.00
@ Brian Daly. …”a card holder could have charged a personal expense and repaid it elsewhere.” I am going to be laughing at the very thought of it all day Brian. What planet… etc
The nation was horrified today to learn that the Government spends money sometimes.
In further daming revelations it is now known that some some of this Government spending apparently happens in Tescos.
Commenters on Journal.ie were quick to point out that such spending must always be presumed to be fraudulent treachery because otherwise how could they complain about it and cleverly (yet again) refer to an Taoiseach as ‘Edna’.
Tescos refused to comment saying that what goes on between a public servant and their check-out dollies is subject to shopper/retailer confidentiality.
People are horrified as they see the charges and levies take a toll on their weekly/monthly pay, watch the price of petrol skyrocket, await with trepidation the Property Tax and water rates to learn that their taxes are being used to pay for bar tabs and nightclubs for highly paid mandarins at Leinster House.
Or are we not allowed to query what OUR money is being spent on…?
This whole thing reminds me of watching the Danish political drama Bergin on TV – in that the PM had to resign as he used his departmental credit card to purchase something for his wife – in Ireland some people seem to have the opinion that we don’t have the right to question our political masters. That they are ENTITLED to have a few jars on our tab.
“…to learn that their taxes are being used to pay for bar tabs and nightclubs for highly paid mandarins at Leinster House.”
We don’t know who it was for or what it was for as far as I can see. Its your leap to conclude that 1, its for highly paid mandarins (what is a mandarin?) and 2 its for their own bar-tabs and nightclubs.
Of course expenditure can be queried but do you want a full list of every item in every department with a detailed narrative or should we allow the C&AG to take care of that stuff? If the former then we need a lot more civil servants (mandarins?) to run this information service.
“do you want a full list of every item in every department with a detailed narrative ”
Yes…or maybe a detailed narrative on why these people still think it’s ok to use public monies contradictory to the current economic state of this country…maybe you’d like to step up to the plate and explain for them???
No thanks Dermot.
I give up on this one.
Now, when is the next household charge debate starting?
Yes. I DO expect every single cent to be accounted for. When community groups are given grants (or rather when they used to be) they were expected to account for every single cent or they would fail audit and funding would be cut – and do it with the resources available to government departments.
I did not say it was fraud – I questioned why our taxes are paying for highly paid elected representatives or civil servants to go to a nightclub or have a few drinks in a pub. As the article makes clear, these credit cards are only available to those in the upper echelons so yes, they are being used by highly paid mandarins in Leinster house. If you are unfamiliar with the term perhaps it would help to consult a dictionary before suggesting that all civil servants fall into that category.
Do you think it is unreasonable that taxpayers request the government actually practices the transparency it promised in the Programme for Government?
Lastly – the information on credit card bills/expenses is already compiled by civil servants, that’s where the information for the article came from, would it be too much to ask that every single cent is openly and transparently accounted for? The information on who used the card in a nightclub is available – just not disclosed to us taxpayers who supply the funds in the first place – why not?
Until the Taoiseach grows a pair, I will continue to call him Edna!!!!
just a quick question, our children go to school hungry, our health system is being destroyed, we are being forced to live lives of “austerity” and go without many necessities to pay for the corruption of bankers and political jackasses , the “troika” come into my country to make sure that I do as I am told,
so how come €50,000 was spent on WINE to entertain these foreigners.
really people ???? you can generate that many comments on credit card expenditure, but with the serious issues in our country at the moment get a fraction of them. somehow I think we have the government we deserve…
I think the problem is with articles like this is that they tend to lack a sense of proportion. That is not necessarily true of this article because the writer acknowledges that such spending is greatly down on previous years. Still, this sort of story does nothing to highlight the main issues that this country faces and, worse, it diverts attention from the key issues upon which our main focus should be directed. The problem is that this country is in a classic depression. What we should be asking (and answering) is whether our policy makers (both elected and non-elected) are pursuing the correct policies in trying to get us out of this depression or are they making matters worse. Getting people riled up over a €25,000 credit card bill does nothing to prevent further decline in our standard of living.
So you’re suggesting we say nothing and carry on…let these despicable vultures continue to live the high life and no expense of their own?
I think you’ll find that past ambivalence concerning matters like this has broken the back of this country.
No I’m not arguing for ambivalence. I think we should keep a sense of perspective though. We have far more serious issues to confront in this country than this.
Like it or not, we have a democracy here. We elect representatives to govern on our behalf. We put these people there. When successive Fianna Fáil led governments continued to slash taxes whilst increase spending in the middle of a property bubble, it was “we, the people” who rewarded FF with even more votes and an even greater mandate to govern.
We are now in the situation we are in, not because some government official decided to use a credit card to buy a book for €17.50 from Hodges Figgis. We are here because our electorate are not discerning enough to realise what the sensible policies are at various stages of the economic cycle.
Fair enough Mark but just becasue they are issued a credit card shouldn’t mean they have freedom to use it with abandon, it’s stories like this which will rile people who have been told recently to prepare for a very tough budget and then read that these austere restrictions will not apply to those fortunate enough to be in the employ of Mr Enda Kenny.
Some say it’s only 25k…where’s the harm?
I never had 25k and never expect to have 25k to squander on frivolous purchases, me and many many thousands like me have to carry the burden for political and banking ineptness yet the architects of this depression and the FF continuity brigade still seem to think it’s mandatory to keep on spending money which does not belong to them.
Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves.
The same thing goes for ethics and integrity. It’s a slippery slope from being responsible for the privilege of spending tax payers money to “I’m entitled”. There is a cause and effect relationship between their behaviour in these small matters and the mess we’re in.
What a non story. If the €25k was spent across three cards, that works out at just under €700 per card per month. Hardly outlandish if you are on Government business. I can’t understand how this is described as not being “self explainatory”.
Two separate transactions totalling €48.50 at Doheny & Nesbitt’s pub on Baggot St, close to Government Buildings, on January 23 last year;
Surely it’s obvious. Somebody bought two rounds of drinks or some dinners? Also, it’s quite possible that a card holder could have charged a personal expense and repaid it elsewhere.
Non story?
I buy my own dinners and earn far far less than these vultures do and that’s what this government and 99% of politicians are – vultures, preach austerity yet remain immune to hardship….why spend your own money when you can dip into the public purse for a few dinner and 2 rounds of drinks.
Utterly disgraceful and the trolls here defending it are just as disgraceful.
My husband has a credit card where he works,but he has to produce an itemised recipt and it can only be used for work concerned items.
I take it your husband works in the private sector Brenda?
Yes Jason he does.
Of course the usual anti-FG bashers fail to note that of the 10 items listed by Journal in their article 6 were from before March 9 2011 when Enda Kenny took office.
But seriously, why let the facts, or even a proper read of the article, get in the way of a good rant!
@Fussy, agreed , we need honest public reps first.
I still have two kids in College/School but as I am in receipt of Disability Allowance, having worked and contributed for 45 years, I must present my bank account statements whenever I am asked, to account for every penny I have spent and where it was spent. How humiliating? My Disability Allowance is regularly adjusted and in most cases reduced. I am at the point of not being able to sleep at night because of worrying about how I will pay my bills. So for someone to ask what difference is another 25,000 Euros….well that just leaves me speechless.
Imagine if receipts, for Government spending had to be made public? Would there be much waste, of taxpayers money?
how much was berties makeup
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