AIB supplies 900 of its 15,000 employees with company cars. Recipients include senior management and about 50 per cent of middle management.

AIB says an employee needs to be earning a minimum gross salary of about £35,000 to be entitled to a company car. If an employee decides not to take the car which the bank says is not unusual an equivalent allowance is given instead. Most AIB branch managers have a company car.

Employees are entitled to renew their car after four years or when they have clocked up 80,000 miles. All repairs, servicing, road tax, petrol and insurance costs are paid for by the bank. Popular options among employees are the Mazda 626 and Volvo S40/70.

Bank Of Ireland

Bank of Ireland provides 830 company cars to its 9,000 retail employees in the Republic. All senior management and all senior middle management are entitled to a car.

The base salary for qualification is £35,000. The number of years of service is taken into account when assessing the budget each employee is allowed. The minimum purchase price is £14,000. The buying is done by the bank which has its own fleet management team.

Employees are given the cars for four years, or until 80,000 miles are clocked up. All insurance, road tax and petrol costs are covered. The Nissan Almera, Ford Mondeo and Opel Omega are popular choices.

ESB

Sixty of the ESB's 10,000 employees are given company cars. They are available to all executive directors and section managers as they "need to be ready to travel at a moment's notice", according to the company.

All the cars provided are valued between £27,000 and £33,000 and can only be replaced after four years. Some other employees are given an allowance towards the cost of a car. The most popular choices are Ford Scorpios and Mavericks and Volvo S40/70/90s.

Intel

Although its US parent does not provide any of its employees with company cars, Intel Ireland supplies cars to 400 to 500 middlemanagement and senior employees out of its 3,600-strong workforce.

People with salaries of more than £30,000 can qualify for a car. Senior engineers with three to four years experience would normally qualify. Intel leases its company cars for three years and the leasing company handles all repairs and servicing.

If employees want a bigger car they can supplement the finance put up by Intel with their own funds. Insurance, servicing and road tax are paid and a petrol allowance is provided.

Popular choices range from the Ford Mondeo and Opel Astra to the Saab 900 or Ford Scorpio.

Telecom Eireann

Out of Telecom Eireann's 11,560 employees, 170 are given the option of a company car. Those who qualify are executive directors, senior managers, senior sales managers and telecom sales personnel, who do a lot of travelling.

All cars are leased for a three-year period and those who qualify can choose from a list of four approved cars. Not all the 170 qualify for the full price of the car, with some managers getting a £4,000 annual allowance towards the cost of the vehicle. Telecom Eireann pays for all insurance, petrol and road tax. Popular options include the Toyota Celica and Volvo S70.