Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I asked this question because of the concerns expressed by the organisers at the extremely high number of people sent from Ireland to this event. It seems extraordinary that we are spending half a million euro of taxpayers' money to send 85 people to this event. Only 54 of these people are participants and not all of that group are actually competitors. Does the Minister feel that the amount being spent is justifiable and did he seek a cost estimate beforehand? With previous WorldSkills competitions in mind, can the Minister explain the huge change in the ratio of participants to hangers-on? In Helsinki the numbers were 43 and 22, respectively, a ratio of 2:1 and in St. Gallen the numbers were 42 and 16, respectively, a ratio of 3:1. This time the ratio is 1:1.5. Why has there been an explosion on this occasion and why are we so big in Japan?

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