Ireland

Give me a crash course in . . . State cars

Would you buy a used car from this State? Soon youll be able to try

Mary Minihan's face
Mary Minihan
Sat Mar 19 2011 - 00:00

Would you buy a used car from this State?Soon youll be able to try. This week the Government announced a substantial number of vehicles from the fleet will be sold off once the entitlement of Ministers, former taoisigh and ex-presidents to avail of State cars and Garda drivers is ended.

What prompted this?Ahead of last year's austere budget, infuriating images of a convoy of sleek ministerial cars pulling into Farmleigh for a cabinet meeting suggested the Fianna Fáil-led administration had lost touch with the public mood. The new Fine Gael-Labour coalition says Ministers should adopt a "more modest approach" given the economic climate, according to the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter.

So will he be driving himself to work from now on?No. Shatter said he would be more than happy to get behind the wheel were it not for security advice from the Garda commissioner that the Minister for Justice and a small number of other senior office holders should retain cars and drivers.

Who else will retain the perk?The President, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. The decision does not affect the provision of a State car for the chief justice and the director of public prosecutions.

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And who will lose out?Six former taoisigh – Liam Cosgrave, Garret Fitzgerald, Albert Reynolds, John Bruton, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen – and former president Mary Robinson will no longer be entitled to around-the-clock official transport in three months' time, although exceptions will be made on important State occasions. Cabinet ministers will have to supply their own cars from May 1st, but they will be entitled to mileage, and the State will hire civilian drivers for them. This situation has been in place for Ministers of State for some years.

Will the initiative save us much money? A total of €7.5 million was spent last year on "the Garda Office Holder Fleet" – 27 cars and 56 drivers. Shatter estimates the new arrangements could save €4 million a year.

What will become of the Garda drivers?They will be redeployed by the Garda commissioner. Those with three years of service in the ministerial car pool in their last decade in the force can retire on annual pensions almost equal to those of Garda superintendents.

And what will be the most essential quality for the replacement drivers?Discretion, undoubtedly. Ministers tend to use their cars as mobile offices, in which they can make and take sensitive phone calls, study top-secret memos, prepare for high-level meetings and even indulge in the odd catnap.

Is our fleet made up entirely of Mercedes?No. The luxury fleet has also included high-spec Audi, Lexus and Volvo saloons. Former Green Party ministers favoured environmentally friendly Toyota Priuses.

What sort of nick are our motors in?Some are "almost past their use-by date", says Shatter. "It remains to be seen how much money will be generated from selling them."

Aren't the new Ministers whove waited for years in opposition to get their bums on the seats of State cars a little peeved at having to vacate them having just got into government?Them's the breaks.