Politicians’ travel costs ‘should be questioned’

THE commission which has responsibility for Dáil and Seanad budgets should enquire into the cost and extent of foreign travel by senators and TDs.

The call for an examination of the cost-effectiveness of overseas travel was made by Green Party chief whip Dan Boyle.

He was responding to yesterday’s disclosure by the Irish Examiner that foreign travel by Government backbenchers and opposition TDs and senators has cost the taxpayer some €1.25 million over the past two years.

The details show that members of Oireachtas committees and the Irish Parliamentary Association have travelled to far-flung destinations such as Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia and the USA on fact-finding missions, to attend conferences and at the invitation of foreign parliaments.

Mr Boyle has said that some of the trips are hard to justify from the perspective of cost-effectiveness or strategic merit. He also referred to multiple trips to the same destinations.

“Australia is an example. There have been separate trips over an 18 month period. Why should so many trips take place in such a time period?

“Perhaps they should look at doubling-up the trips to get more cost-effectiveness. There should also be an overseeing mechanism,” he said.

The two parliamentarians whose travel costs were highest, Fianna Fáil senators Paschal Mooney and Brendan Daly, are both members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), whose membership extends to some 45 states.

Both pointed out that the reasons their travel costs were higher was because of the frequency of meetings.

Senator Mooney said that the tickets are purchased by the Oireachtas on behalf of PACE members attending meetings and they have no say on what they cost.

He attributed the high costs to the fact that many meetings take place mid-week and that there are no direct flights between Ireland and Strasbourg, where the meetings are held.

“I would not like the impression to go out that these are junkets. That could not be further from the truth. The role of the Council of Europe is extremely important and the work is hard and often thankless. Unfortunately, it is seldom reported in Ireland,” he said.

According to Senator Daly: “We do not have any choice when it comes to the cost of travel. It’s not like the European Parliament, where several years ago there were allegations that MEP were taking cheap flights but were claiming large expenses.”