Cutting cost of ministerial cars

Madam, – In a time of belt tightening, here is a practical solution for the Taoiseach to reduce Ministerial overheads and simultaneously…

Madam, – In a time of belt tightening, here is a practical solution for the Taoiseach to reduce Ministerial overheads and simultaneously do his bit for the environment.

Unlike other ministers or premiere’s around the world who travel in the back of their State car, Irish taoisigh and ministers choose to travel bizarrely in the passenger seat beside the driver as if in a full taxi, therefore negating the need for a limousine style car. The idea: replace the current fleet of State cars with two-seater, eco- friendly Smart cars. With 30 Ministers, an average Ministerial car costing about €85,000, and a Smart car costing about €15,000 that’s an immediate saving of about €2 million, and that’s before the reduced full bill, cheap insurance and road tax. – Yours, etc,

SIMON BLAKE,

Ehrengutstrasse,

Munich,

Germany.