Less Ministers to travel abroad for St Patrick's Day

The new Transport and Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar said today that the number of Ministers who will travel abroad for St Patrick's Day will be "significantly" reduced.

In previous years, 22 Ministers went on junkets to 50 locations in a bid to promote Ireland.

"There will be many less people travelling next week than on previous occasions," he said.

"We don’t have an exact number yet, and that’s going to be a matter for the Minister for Foreign Affairs."