STATE CARS:TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen will not have automatic access to a State car and driver when his period in office comes to an end.
Supplementary documentation with Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan’s Budget speech yesterday stated “the operational cost of the State car fleet will be reduced by one-third over the next two years”. Car usage by former office-holders (ex-taoisigh and presidents) and other users will be pooled.
This means that, after Mr Cowen ceases to hold the office of Taoiseach and wishes to avail of a State car and Garda driver, he will be subject to a pooling arrangement that will include other former heads of government.
The identities of the “other users” are not specified but it is understood this refers mainly to Ministers resident in the Greater Dublin area as well as others on the list whose work is mainly conducted in Dublin. The number of gardaí assigned to this work on a daily basis will also be reduced.
“Costs will be contained by reducing the engine-size of the State car fleet to two litres or less as the cars in the fleet are replaced,” the appendix states. Cars in the existing fleet have not been replaced in recent years. Many are approaching the upper mileage level deemed safe for continued use by manufacturers.
Green Party sources said the move had come at their initiative. The spectacle of ministerial cars being driven to Farmleigh House for a recent Cabinet meeting triggered considerable public anger.
The cost of State cars to the exchequer for 2008-09 came to almost €11 million, including the salaries of full-time Garda drivers.
There are 27 State cars, three of them supplied for the President, Director of Public Prosecutions and Chief Justice, 19 for Government and other office-holders, and five for former taoisigh.
The gardaí who drive Ministers’ cars are armed detectives who double as Ministers’ bodyguards. There are approximately 70 gardaí employed in this role.
Fine Gael transport spokesman Simon Coveney described reforms as a “farce” because every serving Minister will keep their vehicle. “The only thing that’s changing is car usage for former office holders, and a reduced engine size for the ministerial fleet as cars are replaced. Fine Gael’s proposal to save 50 per cent on the ministerial transport budget and introduce a car-pooling system has unfortunately not been taken up by Government,” he said.
