Teagasc top-up budget spent on junkets

Teagasc workers were treated to foreign junkets, nights at the greyhounds and horse racing meetings from a fund that should have been ploughed back into the semi-state agency.

Extravagant excesses were uncovered at Teagasc when units across the country mistakenly used a budget top- up to reward staff.

Workers were brought on trips to Copenhagen and Bordeaux, while in other cases meals, hotels, guided tours and boat trips were covered by the agricultural research body.