Hike in costs of ministerial car travel after assignment of garda drivers

The State spent over €6.1m on the ministerial car service between October 1 last year and August 31 this year

Environment and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has the only fully electric car in the ministerial fleet. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA

The bill for transporting Government ministers by car has more than doubled since they were assigned garda protection drivers for security purposes.

The State spent over €6.1m on the ministerial car service between October 1, 2022, and August 31, 2023, figures released via Freedom of Information showed.

In October 2022, garda protection drivers were assigned to all Cabinet ministers following a security recommendation from Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.

Prior to ministers getting the assigned garda drivers, the cost of running the ministerial car pool was around €2.5m a year.

This included wages, expenses, allowances, and car maintenance.

In 2011, full garda protection was stood down from most ministers as part of austerity measures, with only the taoiseach, tánaiste, attorney general, and justice minister being provided with garda drivers.

The Irish Examiner also obtained details of the running costs of ministerial cars between January and July this year, which totalled €153,818.

One electric car

The cost of fuel for the cars came to €71,435, while maintenance costs were €82,383. Fuel costs were avoided for Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, as his car is fully electric. This is the only fully electric car in the ministerial fleet.

In total, 34 cars are allocated by An Garda Síochána for ministerial protection duties. Of these, 19 are diesel and 13 are plug-in hybrids. A further car is a petrol hybrid.

Several ministers racked up thousands of kilometres worth of driving in the first six months of the year, with Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, and Education Minister Norma Foley at the higher end. In particular, Ms Humphreys travelled 49,293km between January 1 and July 31.

Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman travelled by car the least of all Cabinet members, covering 10,352km in the first six months of the year.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar travelled 24,662km, with €4,268 being spent on fuel. Additionally, €13,087 went towards maintenance on Mr Varadkar’s car in the first half of this year. A relief car for Mr Varadkar travelled 5,805km, with the cost of fuel running to €1,210 so far.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin travelled 34,754km in the first six months of the year, with €6,947 going towards the cost of fuel.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that all responsibility for the ministerial fleet lies with An Garda Síochána.

“By law, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána, including for the purchase, allocation, and effective and efficient use of Garda vehicles,” said the spokesperson.

“Neither the minister nor the Government have any role in such matters.”