Hogan and officials run up €9,000 expenses in day trip

Environment Minister Phil Hogan and four of his officials racked up €9,000 in expenses during a 24-hour trip to a European Council meeting in Luxembourg last summer.

They travelled business class and stayed in a five-star hotel, bringing the total travel expenses for the department to almost €92,000 since Mr Hogan took office in Mar 2011.

Expense claims released under the Freedom of Information Act to a Sunday newspaper show travel to the EU Council meeting on Jun 20 last year cost €6,698 in flights alone.

The department said Mr Hogan and his officials travelled business class with Air France as there were no other flights available.

The delegation took a similar trip four months later in October last year, at almost half the cost. They flew economy class and stayed in the modest Hotel Francais, bringing the total cost to travel to the October meeting to €4,662.

The minister’s trip to Rio de Janeiro for a climate change conference earlier this summer attracted some controversy. Flights to the Brazilian capital cost €7,347 for four people. The final bill is not yet known.

The department has spent almost €92,000 on travel in Europe and the rest of the world since March 2011. The most expensive trip was to Durban, South Africa, last December also for a climate change conference.

The total bill, which included six nights in the beach-front Blue Water Hotel for Mr Hogan and his officials, came to €28,847.