Official Travel

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 January 2011

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Questions (124, 125, 126, 127)

Lucinda Creighton

Question:

171 Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of any foreign trips made by him in the year 2010 and to date in 2011; the purpose of each trip; the costs associated with each trip broken down by air travel, ground transportation, hotel accommodation and entertaining expenses; if air travel was by way of commercial airline or Government jet; the exact mode of ground transportation used; the name of each hotel and the nature of the entertainment for which the expenses were incurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2677/11]

Lucinda Creighton

Question:

173 Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of hotel accommodation used by him within the State while on ministerial duties in the years 2009, 2010 and to date in 2011; the name of each hotel in which he stayed; the costs associated with each stay and the purpose of each trip; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2722/11]

Written answers

Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 171 and 173 together.

The details requested in relation to foreign trips made by me in the year 2010 and to date in 2011 is provided in the table below.

Date	Venue	Purpose	Ground Transport & type	Hotel used and costs
Feb. 14-16 2010	Brussels	Eurogroup & ECOFIN	Ambassador’s Car	Crowne Plaza Hotel costing €159
March 15-16 2010	Brussels	Eurogroup & ECOFIN	Car hire costing €180	none required
May 9 2010	Brussels	Meeting of EU Finance Ministers	Car Hire costing €340	none required
May 21 2010	Brussels	Meeting of Von Rompuy Task Force	Car Hire costing €225	none required
June 7 2010	Luxembourg	Eurogroup & Meeting of Von Rompuy Task Force	Car Hire costing €214	none required
Sept. 6-7 2010	Brussels	ECOFIN & Task Force Meeting	no details	none required
Sept. 22 2010	Brussels	Meeting with Comm Rehn	no details	none required
Oct. 7-13 2010	Washington & New York	IMF/World Bank Meetings & NTMA Events	Car Hire costing €688	Fairfax Hotel (Washington) costing €832.75 & The Phillips Club (New York) costing €829.34
Oct. 25 2010	Brussels	Meeting with Comm Rehn	Car Hirecosting €180	none required
Nov. 16-17 2010	Brussels	Eurogroup & ECOFIN	Car Hirenot available	none required
Jan. 17 2011	Brussels	Eurogroup	Car Hirenot available	none required

The Government Jet was used for all of these trips, the costs were met by the Department of Defence.

I stayed in two hotels within the State in the course of my Ministerial duties. On 21 July 2009 I addressed the Magill Summer School in Donegal and the accommodation provided for me at the Highlands Hotel. Glenties, was paid for by the organisers of the event. On 22 August 2010 I addressed the Beal na Blath Commemoration in Cork and on that occasion I paid for my own accommodation.

Lucinda Creighton

Question:

172 Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of any foreign trips made by officials in his Department in the years 2009, 2010 and to date in 2011; the purpose of each trip; the costs associated with each trip broken down by air travel, ground transportation, hotel accommodation and entertaining expenses; if air travel was by way of commercial airline or Government jet; the mode of ground transportation used; the name of each hotel; the nature of the entertainment for which expenses were incurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2692/11]

Lucinda Creighton

Question:

174 Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of any foreign trips made by officials in public bodies under the remit of his Department in the years 2009, 2010 and to date in 2011, the purpose of each trip; the costs associated with each trip broken down by air travel, ground transportation, hotel accommodation and entertaining expenses; if air travel was by way of commercial airline or Government jet; the mode of ground transportation used; the name of each hotel; the nature of entertainment for which expenses were incurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2737/11]

Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 172 and 174 together.

In the period in question there were approximately some 1,078 foreign flight undertaken on commercial airlines by officials of my Department. Given the volume involved, it is not possible in the time available to provide the range of information sought by the Deputy in respect of each journey. However the following table gives details of the total annual costs in relation to flights undertaken in the years 2009, 2010 and to date in 2011.

Year	No of foreign flights	Cost of flights	Hotel Costs	Taxi Costs	Public Transport costs	Other expenses
		€	€	€	€	€
2009	566	122,225	54,247	17,254	5,650	2,827
2010	506	132,367	48,511	14,055	5,013	2,794
2011 Ytd	6	927	860	281	28	23

In relation to the flight costs, a portion of this money is recoupable from EU and other International organisations. Details in respect of usage of the Government jet are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Defence.

Details in respect of bodies under the aegis of my Department are as follows.

Revenue Commissioners

Year	No. of flights	Cost of flights	Transportation costs inclusive of Taxis	Hotel Accommodation
		€	€	€
2009	839	24,2618	12,747	237,213
2010	685	202,088	11,296	200,502
2011 Ytd	11	11,878	74	1,273

A significant element of the flight costs are recouped from the EU

State Laboratory

Year	No. of flights	Cost of flights	Transportation costs Including Taxis	Hotel Accommodation
		€	€	€
2009	41	9,821	1,082	15,605
2010	35	9,530	1,099	13,343
2011 Ytd	1	141	10	471

Some of the flight costs were recoupable from EU organisation.

Public Appointments service

Year	No of flights	Cost of flights	Transportation costs Including Taxis	Hotel Accommodation
		€	€	€
2009	8	1,645	0	1,169
2010	5	552	200	723
2011 Ytd	0	0	0	0

Valuation Office

Year	No of flights	Cost of flights	Transportation costs Including Taxis	Hotel Accommodation
		€	€	€
2009	16	1,888	0	607
2010	9	736	0	964
2011 Ytd	0	0	0	0

Office of the Ombudsman

Year	No of flights	Cost of flights	Transportation costs Including Taxis	Hotel Accommodation
		€	€	€
2009	46	11,551	792	4,959
2010	30	6,315	916	4,385
2011 Ytd	0	0	0	0

National Treasury Management Agency (including in relation to the NPRF, NDFA and NAMA).

The National Treasury Management Agency have provided the following information in relation to foreign travel undertaken in 2009, 2010 and to date in 2011.

Year	Cost of flights	Accommodation, Meals, Taxis etc*
	€
2009	144,566	60,950
2010	264,272	64,626
2011 Ytd	0	0

*Includes some domestic expenses as the NTMA accounting system does not split such expenses between those incurred in Ireland and those incurred abroad.

Question No. 173 answered with Question No. 171.

Question No. 174 answered with Question No. 172.