Refund for trips may be demanded

CIVIL servants who travelled to New York, Boston, London and Georgia using funds from a SIPTU bank account could be asked to pay back the money to the taxpayer.

The Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said if the trips were in breach of public sector travel guidelines, the cost should be repaid to the Exchequer, even by those who have retired from the civil service.

Committee chairman Bernard Allen said the “lavish expenditure on taxis and foreign travel” was “truly shocking”. He said: “Those responsible will be held to account.”