Course costs department €1,300 a day

The Department of Health has spent over €30,000 sending four officials to attend an exclusive six-day course on negotiation at one of the world’s most prestigious universities.

The spend of €30,975 for the four officials to attend the executive Oxford Programme on Negotiation at the Said Business School at the university is part of €245,750 the department has spent on education and training for its officials since the start of last year.

It has cost the taxpayer €8,179 — or €1,363 per day — for each department official to attend the six-day residential course this year, that counts BBC news correspondent, Lyse Doucet as one of its speakers who talks on “negotiating in global trouble spots”.