Crackdown on Taoiseach's staff mobile bills

Staff in the Taoiseach’s department are to face a mobile phone crackdown as their bills soar to over £88,000.

Civil servants, advisers and press officers in Mr Ahern’s department are supposedly clocking up bills of £1000 a week.

The crackdown follows the revelation that the average yearly bill for staff at the Taoiseach’s Department has increased from £52,000 to £88,000.

Almost 100 civil servants in the department have their mobiles paid for by the State. They are supposedly for official use only and users are expected to reimburse the department for any personal calls they make.