Ministers face ban on hotel and flight perks
Top public servants forced to abandon the five-star lifestyle
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Wednesday August 19 2009
THE days of first-class flights and extravagant stays in five-star hotels are over for globetrotting ministers and senior public servants.
Under tough new rules, they will instead have to avoid using business and first-class flights and will have to stay in modest hotels -- instead of running up massive bills at taxpayers' expense in some of the most salubrious establishments and enjoying champagne travel.
Strict new Department of Finance rules mean every trip will have to be recorded and monitored, with the emphasis on value for money.
The department has implemented a new policy across the entire public service which states that first-class travel should not be used "as a general rule" and that hotels of "extravagant" standards should be abandoned in favour of three-star or four-star establishments.
There is also a ban on paying the travel bills for people who have no official role (such as friends or business colleagues of ministers) -- unless ministers state that it is in the public interest. The Department of Finance said that any department or state agency which did not follow the guidelines could have its foreign travel budget frozen -- and be forced to seek individual permission for each trip. It also said that individuals who broke the foreign travel policy could face disciplinary action.
The Department of Finance rules, which replace the existing 11-year-old guidelines, also demand that:
- Annual evaluation of premium economy and business class flights should be carried out.
- Spot checks should be carried out from time to time to ensure the most economical fares are being used by staff ... and to compare fares offered by the travel agent with the internet.
- Each department's designated travel officer will be responsible for carrying out value-for-money checks.
- Ministers and officials going on long-haul flights should use premium economy class (a bigger seat) and should only use business class travel in "limited situations".
The crackdown follows revelations about Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue's lavish overseas expenses and the FAS foreign travel scandal, which prompted the resignation of its director general Rody Molloy.
The rules will apply to ministers, senior civil servants, heads of state agencies, the HSE, and all those in the public service engaging in foreign travel.
The foreign travel policy guidelines were officially issued by the Department of Finance on July 1 last and are now in place across the public sector. The 21-point document is far more wide-ranging and restrictive than the previous seven-point guidelines, which were published in 1998.
Former FAS director general Rody Molloy had claimed he was allowed to swap his first class ticket for two business class ones, so that he could bring his wife with him overseas.
Scandal
But new guidelines clearly state: "In no circumstances is it permissible to 'trade down' premium tickets to enable another person who is not a member of staff of the department to travel free of charge or at a reduced rate."
The Department of Finance had issued guidelines in 1971, 1982 and in 1998 requiring state employees to secure the best value for money on official travel. But these guidelines did not prevent several scandals over spending on foreign travel by ministers and senior public servants.
Under the new guidelines, it is clearly stated that each department's travel officer is responsible for enforcing them and there will be value-for-money reviews every three to five years as a further safeguard.
Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen, who is head of the Dail's Public Accounts Committee, said the new guidelines would tighten up considerably the potential for abuse.
"It indicates a new reality that no matter whether there are good times or bad times, there should be value for money for the taxpayer," he said.
Another committee member, Labour TD Roisin Shorthall, said the new guidelines needed to be enforced.
"There were reasonable guidelines in place previously, but the problem was that people just ignored them."
She said the guidelines did not take account of the committee's recommendation that state agencies should not pay the foreign travel bills for government ministers.
"This is public money and they have no business using it to treat ministers. It should be the minister's office that is paying the bill," she said.
- Michael Brennan Political Correspondent
