Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Neavyn and his team are very welcome, as are the other witnesses from the Department and the HEA. I appreciate his taking the time to clear up or at least to attempt to clear up some of the outstanding matters from previous meetings. As Dr. Neavyn himself will acknowledge, this is a sorry chapter in the otherwise proud history of Waterford Institute of Technology and all the members understand his efforts to clear up these legacy matters. In the first instance, may I refer to areas pertaining to the flights to which Dr. Neavyn referred in his presentation? It is worth noting that one can get a flight from Bristol to Dublin for approximately €30 and as far as I can establish, this also was the case in 2007. Moreover, a single train fare would cost one less than €30. This puts the extravagance involved in this regard into some context. Who approved the flights and who in general would approve, co-authorise or co-approve payments involving flights or travel of this nature in the institute at that point?