Euro think-tank claim €162,000 expenses

MEMBERS of the State's European think-tank, the National Forum on Europe, have clocked up more than €162,000 in expenses in a year.

Five delegates have claimed more than €9,000 in expenses from attending meetings and 10 have topped the €5,000 mark. The Forum on Europe will have cost the taxpayer almost €3 million when it ends its activities in the summer.

Labour Party Cllr Denis Landy tops the expenses league after chalking up almost €10,700. Labour Party delegates have claimed the largest amount of all the groups attending the forum with delegates taking away more than €34,000.