Call to probe €287k ministerial trip on state jet

A MINISTERIAL trip on the Government jet which cost taxpayers a whopping €287,000 needs to be investigated, opposition parties last night insisted.

The extraordinary bill for the flight to south-east Asia and Australia is so high it is to be raised in the Dáil.

Dermot Ahern, who was foreign minister at the time of the trip in February 2008, and nine other passengers jetted to Dubai, Malaysia, East Timor and Australia before returning home.

The party spent a total of 36.5 hours in the air at a cost to the taxpayer of €7,700 per hour. The total €287,000 flying bill does not include food or accommodation for the group, it has emerged.

Opposition TDs questioned the wisdom of taking the small Gulfstream IV jet on such a lengthy journey as the Government plane needs to stop frequently due to its limited range.

Flights on commercial airlines for the visit would have cost about a third of the Government jet bill, according to estimates.

Labour foreign affairs spokesman Michael D Higgins said he would raise the matter in Dáil as he was concerned one trip could cost so much.

“I think this needs to be looked into. It is extraordinary,” he said.

Ministers flew for a total of 345 hours on the Gulfstream jet last year at a cost of €2.72 million. Flights on five other specially maintained jets took the travel bill for the Government to €3.65m as more than 200 trips were taken.

The news comes after it was revealed that taxpayers forked out more than €2,000 jetting the Taoiseach, Ceann Comhairle and two ministers from Dublin to Thomond Park in Limerick to see Munster take on the All Blacks.

The decision was defended by the Government because the new stadium’s opening match was on a Tuesday night, within hours of questions to the Taoiseach in the Dáil, which Brian Cowen and Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue both needed to attend.

Minister for Defence, Willie O’Dea and Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe, who both represent Munster constituencies, travelled with them.

The trip was one of 83 flights, at a cost of €1.6m, taken by the cabinet on government jets and helicopters in the six months to March.

Seventy trips were taken on the Government’s three jets and 13 on helicopters. This indicates that Air Corps aircraft are used at least once a week or six times a month by the Government.

Mr Cowen used the Air Corps on 16 occasions, while Tánaiste Mary Coughlan travelled 11 times, including the use of the helicopter from Dublin to her constituency in Donegal.

In all, there were 25 flights within the island of Ireland, of which 13 were by helicopter and 12 involving fixed-wing aircraft, which cost about €2,000 per journey.

The most expensive trip within Ireland cost almost €16,000, bringing the Taoiseach and nine ministers from Dublin to Derry to Dublin to Cork and back to Dublin again.