Department of the Taoiseach spent €450,000 on airfares, gifts, and hotels

The entertainment expenditure included €16,732 to actors who were recorded as part of a Cork Centenary Commemoration event held at the Crawford Gallery in Cork City. Pic: Larry Cummins

Fifty silver bookmarks costing €83 each, €400 for a string quartet to entertain the European Commission president, and €9,700 for pagoda canopies were among the bills run up by the Department of the Taoiseach last year.

Micheál Martin’s department also spent more than €1,100 on flowers, €265 for a shamrock crystal bowl to present to former US president Donald Trump, and €49 on Snack bars.