Costs incurred by Minister Dempsey on Overseas Travel PDF Print E-mail

Statement by Minister for Transport on costs incurred on overseas travel

25 October 2009

Below you will find details of the costs I incurred on overseas travel since I became Minister for Transport in June 2007.

Out of the very large number of invitations I received to attend international events since I became Minister for Transport I have been abroad on nine occasions. The detail of my costs for these nine trips from January 2008 to date are outlined below as is the purpose of the trip and the schedule of events.

I have put a regime in place to keep all costs incurred on such travel to appropriate levels. I have instructed officials in my Department to take full charge of booking accommodation, flights and all arrangements for these trips in order to control costs.

Overseas travel is an important and unavoidable part of the work that Government Ministers do. To effectively do the job as Minister it is necessary to undertake them. We use these trips as an opportunity to promote Ireland abroad, to progress and conclude agreements with international counterparts, to attend European Council meetings and to meet the Irish abroad.

It is an honour and a privilege to represent Ireland overseas and I am very proud to do so. I am also very aware that taxpayers money is involved in these trips and I am conscious at all times to ensure that costs incurred are not excessive.

Representing Ireland abroad

It is an enormous privilege and honour to represent one’s country in any sphere of life. Sportsmen and sportswomen, ambassadors and, yes, politicians will all confirm what an honour it is and indeed how daunting it can be having the hopes, dreams or interests of the nation on your shoulders on foreign soil.
Representing Ireland abroad is an essential part of the job of a Government Minister.

We travel abroad to:
· Promote Ireland as a place for investment, tourism etc.
· To defend Ireland’s interests in international organisations like the E.U., UN, OECD etc.
· Reach out to the Irish abroad.
· To network with other people and to create as much goodwill as possible for Ireland.
· To learn from the experience of others.

In travelling abroad we incur costs – accommodation, travel, meals etc. Every effort is made to keep those costs at a level appropriate to the task in hand. I am always conscious of the fact that the taxpayers pay the bills.
For that reason since my appointment as Minister for Transport we have tried to take more and more control of the arrangements for such visits to enable us to contain any expenses incurred. 

Please find details of my travel costs below:

2007 - None

2008

January - Details in Attachment 1
March - Details in Attachment 2
April - Details in Attachment 3
June - Details in Attachment 4
November - Details in Attachment 5

2009

March - Details in Attachment 6
July - Details in Attachment 7

Support Documents ( click the links to download )

Attachment 1.PDF
Attachment 2.PDF
Attachment 3.PDF
Attachment 4.PDF
Attachment 5.PDF
Attachment 6.PDF
Attachment 7.PDF