Public Accounts Committee Determined to Get to the Bottom of Spending by State Agencies on Flights for Spouses

The Dáil Public Accounts Committee has decided to contact the Central Bank requesting details relating to flights paid for by them for spouses of employees.

Committee Chairman, Bernard Allen TD said;
“At this morning’s meeting, the Committee resolved to ask the Central Bank to supply us with full details of the fifty-two trips undertaken by spouses of employees. We want to know the reasons this travel was necessary, the costs involved in each trip, the individual staff members who took their spouses on these trips and other costs that were borne by the Central Bank and ultimately the tax payer.

The Public Accounts Committee has jurisdiction for the Central Bank under its value for money remit, so we will be seeking the information under this heading.
The Committee will also be inviting the Central Bank to a full meeting of the Committee as part of its overall examination of the financial sector. We are due to receive the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General shortly on the Financial Regulator and as part of the overall examination of the cost of the bank stabilisation measures, the Committee will be looking at failures in banking regulation which were the responsibility of the Central Bank. These hearings will commence in April.
Furthermore, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report the Central Bank was far from the only state agency which spent money on flights for people other than staff members. The report revealed that around €1.5 million was incurred for 4,000 flights for non-staff members which was not reimbursed, while business class was used for almost one-third of long haul flights and first class travel on 13 occasions.
We also intend to get to grips with what has gone on in other state agencies as well as the Central Bank.”

ENDS
Daniel English
Oireachtas Communications Unit
01 618 4484
087 6949926

Membership of Public Accounts Committee:
Bernard Allen TD, Fine Gael ,(Chairman)
Darragh O'Brien TD , Fianna Fáil, (Vice Chairman)
Deirdre Clune TD, Fine Gael
Michael McGrath TD, Fianna Fáil
Sean Fleming TD , Fianna Fáil
Brendan Kenneally TD, Fianna Fáil
Niall Collins TD, Fianna Fáil
Padraic McCormack TD, Fine Gael
Thomas Broughan TD, Labour Party
Jim O'Keeffe TD, Fine Gael
Róisín Shortall TD , Labour Party ,
Ned O'Keeffe TD, Fianna Fáil