An itemised breakdown of the expenditure of £54,258 for travel expenses referred to in the statement which I made to Dáil Éireann on 10 October, 1995, is set in tabular form below. The payments in respect of these expenses were made by CIE. These travel expenses were incurred on trips arranged on behalf of the former chairman of CIE. While the former chairman did drop out of one of the US trips, his late cancellation did not mean that the expenses of over £10,000 in respect of this particular trip were avoided. I was not informed of this fact by CIE until after my statement in the House last week. The central thrust of my concerns about the frequency, scale and cost of these overseas trips remains valid.
(1) Visit to USA, 5-10 October, 1994
Participants
Mr. and Mrs. N. Kennedy
Mr. and Mrs. M. Grace