THE government is spending around ?5m of tax-payers' money to provide free parking for civil servants, The Sunday Tribune can reveal.

In addition to the free parking provided in the grounds of various departments, the government is also renting out hundreds of additional parking spaces from the private sector for civil servants. The massive outlay on car parking comes at a time when ofcial government policy is to encourage public transport.

According to gures released by the Office of Public Works (OPW) this weekend, the total cost of car parking in 2002 was estimated at ?4,927,000 which also included the provision of free parking for ministers, ofcial visitors, cyclists and disabled drivers. Although the OPW has estimated the overall cost, a spokesman said it did not know the parking bill for each government department.