Local bodies spent €90k on union officials’ trips

UP to €90,000 of funds from what are now cash-strapped local authorities was used to send union officials on trips around the world to train them for talks on the social partnership process.

Taxpayers forked out €41,500 for a trip to New York in September 2001 when four union representatives and three county council officials got stranded because of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Further “international study visits related to partnership in other jurisdictions” were taken to Madrid in 2003 and Canada in 2007.