TRAVEL EXPENSES incurred by ministers who go abroad on Government business will be published within the next month.
A Government spokesman said the costs associated with foreign travel will probably be published online. The figures will relate to the current administration as well as the coalition which governed between 2002 and 2007.
“The Taoiseach informed his Government colleagues that this is the way it would be and instructed his officials to put the mechanism in place,” the spokesman added.
The decision was communicated to staff in the various Government departments last Friday, after Mr Cowen told Cabinet colleagues last week or the previous week.
The motivation for the decision is understood to be the amount of time civil servants have been devoting to obtaining documents following Freedom of Information requests from journalists.
John O’Donoghue formally resigned as Ceann Comhairle almost a fortnight ago, following the controversy surrounding his foreign travel expenses, both in his position as chairman of the Dáil and as minister for arts, sport and tourism between 2002 and 2007.
