Few public servants take to the bike

JUST ONE staff member in Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan’s department has availed of the Cycle to Work scheme, unveiled as an environmentally friendly initiative in last years budget.

Seven months after it started, several Government departments, including enterprise and employment, social and family affairs and the Houses of the Oireachtas, have yet to make the scheme available to staff.

In all, just over 170 staff in Government departments have taken advantage of the scheme, from a total of almost 28,000, according to figures compiled by The Irish Times.

No figures are available for the overall take-up for the scheme across the public and private sectors, but an industry survey published this week estimated this figure at 1 per cent.

Over half of those surveyed by bicycle retailer Halfords were aware of the scheme, and one-third currently owned a bike.

The scheme encourages employers to cover the cost of a bicycle up to €1,000.

Employers can then claim the cost as a tax-exempt benefit-in-kind, while employees who buy the bike themselves can save tax, PRSI and levies.

Just one application was received from staff in the Department of Defence, although a spokesman argued that this was because of its impending decentralisation to Kildare.

Two of the 202 staff in the Department of the Taoiseach have taken up the offer. There are three applicants each from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. There have been eight applications within the Department of Finance.

The Department of Health has received just five applications from staff since it opened its scheme only two weeks ago. Ten applications have been received from the Office of Public Works’ 2,300 staff, while the Department of Foreign Affairs has had just six applications.

There are eight applicants at the Department of Transport, although a spokesman said other applications were being processed. Almost three-quarters of the department’s staff commute to work by public transport, he claimed, and the department has 12 bikes available for use by staff.

The HSE said it was processing 11 applications from its 111,000 staff under a pilot scheme.

The Department of Justice had 39 applications, there were 33 at the Revenue Commissioners, 30 at the Department of Agriculture and 18 at the Department of Education and Science.

The Department of the Environment, whose Minister, John Gormley, is a keen cyclist, reported 24 applications.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs says it will be inviting applications “once arrangements have been finalised”. The Department of Enterprise and Employment said it was still implementing the scheme.

Employers self-administer the scheme, which is expected to cost €400,000 this year.

Some 33 staff of The Irish Times'450 staff have availed of the scheme.