Politicians’ junkets - TDs’ foreign trips need to be justified

Backbench members of the Oireachtas spent over €500,000 on fact-finding missions to varied and exotic places on behalf of the Irish taxpayers during 2005, according to figures just released under the Freedom of Information Act.

In addition to the funded travels of ordinary backbench deputies, which cost over €400,000, trips were also undertaken by the Irish Parliamentary Association, which involved seven or eight Dáil deputies and Senators at a time. This year, for instance, eight members of the Oireachtas went to Nairobi, Kenya, for five days.

What was the purpose of the trip? Were they able to learn anything of benefit to the Irish electorate? They were hardly there in connection with our Celtic Tiger economy, because there are no tigers in Africa — of either the Celtic or feline variety.