Sir, – I note with interest your report (Mary Minihan, Home News, July 25th) of a positive Cabinet decision to make a 10 per cent reduction in the mileage claimed by Ministers and Ministers of State from September 1st to take account of personal travel.
Presumably the reduction relates to actual mileage done rather than the maximum allowable claim, which was 6,000km per month. In my experience a more rigorous approach could be adopted.
When I was minister of state at the Department of Finance between 2008 and 2011, using my own car purchased in 2006 which I still drive, I deducted 30 per cent from my actual as opposed to permitted monthly mileage, so that any overestimate of the balance between official and personal travel was always at my expense. During holiday periods this method was discarded, as the mileage for occasional specific official travel is easily calculated. Net claims varied between 30 and 60 per cent of the maximum. In one instance well before my time and in much more prosperous days the maximum was always claimed by the officeholder, no doubt for valid reasons, but I know most colleagues would have wanted to limit expense of this nature. A further way of doing this, where feasible without too much loss of time, is to use the train to official functions, with the only travel cost being the fare, and I did this frequently.
I note David Cameron encourages his ministers to travel by train. Why not here? It would set a good example, at a time when CIÉ needs more public support. Aside from mainly pleasant but reasonably brief encounters with other passengers, privacy is generally respected when reading or working.
Anthony Trollope admitted that he made a fortune on travel and subsistence set at London rates as a post office official in mid-19th century Ireland.
I suspect a fortune could still be saved today by tightening up a lot further on the wide latitudes in the rules and recommendations for public officials and office holders, of which ministerial travel is but the most prominent example. – Yours, etc,