Official Travel

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022

Tuesday, 1 March 2022

Questions (725)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

725. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 214 of 16 February 2022, if he will provide the benefits realised by his Department in respect of travel episodes undertaken in 2018 and 2019 by the former Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People in his Department to Washington, New York and San Francisco; if he will provide further information regarding these travel episodes, that is accommodation costs, the number of officials that travelled with the Minister and a schedule of the costs associated with the travel; and if he will provide a schedule of the meetings and engagements that occurred during these travel episodes. [11253/22]

Written answers

Minister for Health

In June 2018 Minister of State Daly attended the Mental Health America 2018 Annual Conference: Fit For The Future in Washington DC on behalf of the Irish Government. This conference was organised by the World Bank, World Health Organisation, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. As well as attending the conference, Minister of State Daly also held a number of informal meetings with experts in the field of mental health to learn of new developments in this important area. Key areas examined included:

Mental Health for All;

Research into the future of mental health;

Development of mental health strategies;

Tackling Discrimination; and

The funding of mental health.

The Department paid Club Travel €9,685.42 for the cost of hotels and flights for Minister of State Daly, his Special Advisor and two other members of staff in the Department of Health who attended with Minister of State Daly. The remaining amount was for travel expenses claimed between all four people in compliance with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform circulars.

In November 2018 Minister of State Daly attended a Community Care Conference in New York. While attending this conference, Minister of State Daly also took the opportunity to visit a number of community care facilities in the state of New York to look at developments in this area to inform strategic decision-making in this policy area in Ireland.

The Department paid Club Travel €13,242.42 for the cost of hotels and flights for Minister of State Daly and one member of staff in the Department of Health who attended with Minister of State Daly. The location of the conference limited the options for Club Travel when booking the hotel. The remaining amount was for travel expenses claimed between all four people in compliance with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform circulars.

Minister of State Daly did not visit San Francisco and was not paid any expenses for such a trip. Minister Harris visited San Francisco as part of his work fulfilling engagements on behalf of the Government for St. Patricks Day in 2019.