City council forks out €37,000 on China trips
The full extent of the lavish spending was revealed at a council meeting last night.
Independent Cllr Annette Spillane raised concerns at a time when the local authority is being forced to reduce staff, slash overtime, and is struggling to maintain services. “We should examine the possibility of using webcams to cut down the costs of some of these interactions.”
She was responding after being presented with a detailed breakdown of the costs incurred by the city for each of the official visits, the reason for them and details on who travelled.
The figures show that there have been seven official council trips to Shanghai since October 2007.
From October 5 to 10, 2007, the city council spent €11,583 hosting a reception in Shanghai for Team Ireland, who were competing in the Special Olympics.
Flights for then lord mayor Donal Counihan and assistant city manager Dan Buggy cost €10,603 and they incurred €979 in expenses. Following an invitation from the Department of Foreign Affairs, a trip from November 3 to 11, 2007, labelled the Shanghai Intern Programme, cost €3,015. Accommodation costs were met by the Shanghai hosts.
An overlapping schools exchange trip from November 1 to 8 cost €6,580. The Department of Enterprise paid €5,000 towards the cost of flying the selected teachers and students from eight Cork schools.
A cultural exchange trip featuring 10 Cork organisations from November 24 to December 1, 2007, cost €2,185 with €1,495 travel and accommodation fees met by Culture Ireland.
A trip to the 10th China Shanghai International Arts Festival from October 16 to 20, 2008, cost €5,395.
Flights for Cllr Tony Fitzgerald and two city officials cost €3,366 with a further €2,000 in expenses. Some accommodation costs were met by the hosts.
One official’s involvement in a trade mission with Enterprise Ireland from October 19 to 26, 2008, cost €4,868. Flights were €1,086 with expenses coming in at €2,871.
The 2008 Shanghai Intern Programme from November 3 to 12, 2008, cost €3,055.
And another trip, involving the lord mayor, Cllr Brian Bermingham, chair of the council’s Shanghai Project Group, Cllr Mary Shields, deputy city manager, Dan Buggy, and head of the docklands directorate, Pat Ledwidge, is planned next month but flight costs have not been finalised.
They are to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Shanghai Municipal Peoples Government in relation to “future cooperation projects”. City officials defended the spending to date and they said several business meetings will take place and deals will be signed on next month’s trip.
