DUNDALK INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
TRAVEL & SUBSISTENCE
PROCEDURES
DkIT Travel & Subsistence Procedures – Version 2 issued 25th August 2014
1.0
Introduction
It is the policy of Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) to reimburse employees for travel and
subsistence expenses incurred in the performance of their duties while temporarily away from
their normal place of work.
These procedures set out the rules and regulations governing travel and subsistence claims
within Dundalk Institute of Technology. They are consistent with Department of Finance
Guidelines (see below) and Revenue Guidelines (Ref: IT 51, IT 54, and SP – IT/2/07).
Approved Department of Finance rates will act as a guideline to the upper limit to travelling
and subsistence expenses to be refunded (Ref: Circular 07/2009 and Foreign Travel 2010).
2.0
Authority and Responsibility

In the first instance, employees must assess the necessity of any travel and relevance to
the specific business of the Institute before incurring any cost. Prior approval must be
obtained where necessary.

Thereafter, it is the employee’s responsibility to ensure that the expense claim has been
submitted in line with these procedures.

Certificates of attendance at conferences, seminars, etc. must be provided.

It is the budget holder/approver’s responsibility, by reviewing the claim, to ensure that
it is in compliance with these procedures and in particular that:
-

Any necessary prior approval has been obtained
Expenditure is held within budget
Value for money is obtained
All original receipts are provided in the case where receipted items are being
claimed.
There is adherence to the ‘lesser of home or headquarters’ rule for all expenditure
claimed (please note that the same rules and regulations apply to weekend
conferences/seminars).
All claim forms must be signed off by your Head of Department/Budget
Holder/Executive Board Member.
DkIT Travel & Subsistence Procedures – Version 2 issued 25th August 2014
3.0
Travel Expense Claim Forms

There are two Travel Expense Claim Forms:
- Travel Expense Claim Form within Ireland – (Expense Form No. 1)
- Travel Expense Claim Form outside Ireland – (Expense Form No. 2: International)

The Travel Expense Claim Form must be completed in all cases (this includes where
employees enter their own claims on the Employee Self Service system - ESS). Outside
of the standard subsistence allowances, original receipts should be attached to the
claim form in a logical manner and sent to the approver for review.

All sections of the Claim Form must be completed.

One trip only per Claim Form.

All expenses being claimed and deductions for meals provided should be detailed on the
Claim Form and certified by Head of Department/Budget Holder/Executive Board
Member. This should correspond exactly to what is entered on ESS.

All expenses relating to one trip should be claimed under the one Trip I.D.
3.1
Domestic Travel

Travelling expenditure should only be undertaken in respect of necessary absences
from an employee’s normal place of work.

Alternatives to travel such as video conferencing, telephone conferencing, etc. should
be considered where available.

Public transport should be used at all times except where there is no public transport
available. Mileage will only be paid in exceptional circumstances and must be approved
by the Head of Department/Budget Holder.

Where mileage is approved, an employee may not use his/her private vehicle for
Institute business without first producing evidence that there is a current motor
insurance policy in place covering use of this vehicle in connection with his/her business
or profession (Registration No. of vehicle should be quoted on the policy where
possible). This must be updated annually. If a different vehicle is used, a current motor
insurance policy for the alternative vehicle must be submitted.

The rate per kilometre to be paid will be those applicable at the time of the journey.

Where mileage is claimed, the ‘lesser of home or headquarters’ rule must be observed
at all times (See Revenue Guidelines) e.g. an employee living in Newry and travelling
DkIT Travel & Subsistence Procedures – Version 2 issued 25th August 2014
directly to Dublin must claim mileage from headquarters i.e. DkIT; an employee living in
Swords and travelling directly to Dublin must claim mileage from home i.e. Swords.

Monthly statement or original receipts for toll charges and parking must be provided. A
statement must also be provided for e-toll charges (toll charges should be for motor car
and not goods vehicle). Toll receipt dates and times must correspond to trip dates and
times. All receipts must be legible. Failure to provide this information will result in
expense items not being paid.

Taxis should only be used where no other suitable form of public transport is available.
Original receipts must be provided at all times.
3.2
Subsistence

Subsistence allowance may be paid for each night necessarily spent away from home.
The overnight allowance is intended to cover a period up to 24 hours from the time of
departure and any balance of time not amounting to 5 hours above that period. A day
allowance is payable only if the balance of time by which a complete number of periods
of 24 hours is exceeded, amounts to 5 hours or more.

A day allowance may be paid in respect of an absence from headquarters of 5 hours or
more, provided the venue is more than 5 kilometres from the employee’s normal place
of work:
- A 5 hour allowance may be claimed for absences, equal to 5 hours but less than 10
hours, from an employee’s normal place of work on Institute business.
- A 10 hour allowance may be claimed for absences of 10 hours or more, from an
employee’s normal place of work on Institute business.

If meals are provided at the conference/meeting attended, an amount equal to the 5
hour allowance should be deducted for each meal provided.

Receipts are not required when claiming subsistence rates since the authorised rates
are the maximum payable. If actual hotel costs are claimed instead, this amount plus
any subsistence for the day cannot exceed the overnight subsistence rate.

In any one claim, expenses for subsistence should be based on subsistence rates or on
actual receipts but not a combination of both. Actual receipts for subsistence should
not exceed the subsistence rates.

Subsistence rates in line with these procedures are pre-set in the Core Expenses System.
These include rates for Class A and Class B.
DkIT Travel & Subsistence Procedures – Version 2 issued 25th August 2014
3.3
Entertainment

Expenditure on entertainment will not arise very often. However, it is accepted that
there will be occasions when modest entertainment costs are unavoidable. Such
expenditure should be proportional to the occasion. All such expenditure should be
approved in advance.

Where entertaining takes place, the number of staff attending from DkIT should be kept
to a minimum.

Necessary and reasonable entertainment costs will be reimbursed by DkIT on
production of receipts. The following information must be shown:
- Name of all attendees (internal and external)
- Purpose of the entertainment

Other than in the case of Institute approved functions, under no circumstances can
entertainment involve DkIT employees only.
3.4
Receipted Items

Original receipts must be attached for all receipted expenses being claimed. These
must be legible. Point of sale receipt (e.g. credit/laser card receipt) is not sufficient.
The receipt must be from the sales till detailing the item purchased/consumed.

Photocopies of receipts will not be accepted.

If a claim is submitted omitting the original receipt, you will not be reimbursed for this
expenditure.

Only allowable expenditure can be claimed. Expenditure of a personal nature is not
allowable.
3.5
Purchase of other items

The process for the reimbursement of expenses must not be used for the purchase of
items which should otherwise be sourced through the normal procurement process of
the Institute.

On occasion, when working away from DkIT, incidental items may have to be purchased
for business purposes. These will be allowable on the basis that the item is minor, the
cost is small and an original receipt is submitted as part of the claim on which the item
is detailed and the requirement noted.
DkIT Travel & Subsistence Procedures – Version 2 issued 25th August 2014
3.6
Foreign Travel

All foreign travel must be pre-approved on the Travel Expense Claim Form outside
Ireland – (Expense Form No. 2: International) by a member of the Executive Board.

Foreign travel should be planned so as to reduce the total amount of travelling to the
minimum consistent with efficiency (Ref: Foreign Travel Policy Guidelines 2009).

All travel should be planned as far in advance as possible in order to take advantage of
discounted air fares and other discounted costs.

Travel should be undertaken in economy or equivalent class. Only in exceptional
circumstances may employees travel in business class or equivalent. The use of
business class travel must be warranted in the circumstances and approved in advance.

Foreign travel bookings should be made through an approved travel agent. Dates/times
of flights booked should be as close to the commencement and end of
conference/seminar as is practicable. Extended stays for personal reasons is at the
employee’s own expense.

Where extra expenditure is incurred in relation to family members accompanying the
employee, official evidence of this cost must be provided and deducted accordingly.

Clear evidence must be provided at time of claim of expenditure incurred by DkIT in
relation to foreign trip e.g. flights, accommodation, etc. as this is required to correctly
calculate what is due to employee. The conference rate applies when Hotel
(accommodation only) has already been paid by DkIT. The conference rate covers
meals for the day. Flight times and details of meals provided on flights must also be
provided.

As with domestic travel, care should be taken to ensure that value for money is
obtained at all times e.g. use of car hire in visiting country instead of transporting own
car and claiming mileage.

Parking at airports should be confined to dates of trip – it should not extend beyond
this. The Long Term Car Park or QuickPark should be used – employees will not be reimbursed for use of the Short Term Car Park.

All foreign currency receipted items should be entered on ESS through the foreign
travel section on ESS. These will then be converted at the system rate at the time of
claim (please note that rates are updated monthly). They should not be converted to
Euro and entered on ESS as same.

If part of foreign travel claim is paid in Euro, e.g. flights, care should be taken to ensure
that this is entered as Euro in the Euro section on the ESS system and not entered in the
DkIT Travel & Subsistence Procedures – Version 2 issued 25th August 2014
foreign travel section. Please note that Euro expenses and foreign currency expenses
can both be claimed under the one Trip I.D.
3.7
Current Rates per Kilometre and Subsistence Rates
The current rates per kilometre and subsistence rates are available on the Core Expense System
and on the Finance Office website.
3.8
Travel Advances

In cases of large expenditure, travel advances may be obtained for a maximum of 80%
of the anticipated expenditure. In order to facilitate this, notice of 10 working days
must be given on the official Advance Requisition Form.

All applications for travel advances must be made through the Payroll Office (there
should be no exceptions to this). This is to allow for the correct processing of the Net
Pay Adjustment.

Advances will be paid by way of a transfer to the employee’s bank account.

All advances must be cleared and accounted for within 30 days of the completion of the
journey.

Travel advances are considered as personal loans to individuals. Until properly
accounted for by the submission of a fully completed and authorised Travel Expense
Claim Form, they are treated as recoverable from the individual, whether by direct
recoupment or by deduction from any monies due and payable to the individual.
4.0
Processing of Claims

All travel and subsistence expense claims should be submitted as soon as possible but
not later than 3 months after the completion of the journey to which they apply. Claims
after this period cannot guarantee reimbursement. If you have any queries with regard
to submitting your claim, please contact the Finance Office to avoid delay in payment.

Your expense claim must be approved on ESS by the 10th of each month or the Monday
following the 10th of the month by 12.00 noon to ensure inclusion in the end of month
payroll run. This deadline may be brought forward during holiday periods (as per emails
issued from payroll at the appropriate times).

The onus lies with the individual making the claim to ensure that their Head of
Department/Budget Holder/Executive Board Member signs off their claim on ESS before
this deadline, otherwise they will not be reimbursed until the end of the following
month.
DkIT Travel & Subsistence Procedures – Version 2 issued 25th August 2014