Written answers

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Department of An Taoiseach

Official Travel

8:00 am

Photo of Lucinda CreightonLucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 98: To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide details of any foreign trips made by him in the year 2010 and to date in 2011; the purpose of each trip; the costs associated with each trip broken down by air travel, ground transportation, hotel accommodation and entertaining expenses; if air travel was by way of commercial airline or Government jet; the exact mode of ground transportation used; the name of each hotel and the nature of the entertainment for which the expenses were incurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2682/11]

Photo of Brian CowenBrian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The table below details all foreign travel by me from 1st January 2010 to date. Costs in respect of the Government Jet are not included as they are paid by the Department of Defence.

14 January - Meeting with Prime Minister Brown, London
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Car Hire€ 370.45
25 January 2010 - Meeting with Prime Minister Brown, London
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Car Hire€ 529.22
11 February - European Council, Brussels
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Car Hire€ 337.50
12-18 March - St Patrick's Day Programme, USA
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Air Ticket/ Cancellation Charge€164.06
Car Hire€ 10,616.12
Name of HotelHilton Hotel, Chicago
Four Seasons Hotel, San Francisco
St Regis Hotel, Washington
Cost of Hotels€ 1,684.87
Nature of entertainment expensesLunch with Members of the Ireland America Economic Advisory Board / Porterage charges
Total cost of Entertainment expenses€ 2,704.04
25-26 March - European Council Brussels
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Car Hire€ 1,315.00
Name of HotelRadisson Blu
Cost of Hotel€ 500.00
7 May - Meeting of Heads of State or Government of the Euro Area, Brussels
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Car Hire€ 312.50
17-18 May - E.U. Latin American & Caribbean Summit and bilateral meetings, Madrid
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Name of HotelHotel Hesperia
Cost of Hotel€ 211.86
17 June - European Council, Brussels
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Car Hire€ 682.50
Name of HotelRadisson Blu
Cost of Hotels (Cancellation charges)€217.00
23 June - Meeting with Prime Minister Cameron, London
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
25 June - British-Irish Council Summit, Guernsey
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
11-15 July - Official trip to New York/Atlanta
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Car Hire€ 9,218.90
Name of HotelFitzatrick's Hotel, New York
Carlton Hotel, Atlanta
Cost of Hotels€ 838.39
Nature of entertainment expensesDinner to mark the opening of the new Irish Consul Generalate in Atlanta (14 guests in total )
Entertainment expenses€ 935.88
16 September - European Council, Brussels
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
Car Hire€ 657.50
4-5 October - ASEM VIII Summit and bilateral meetings, Brussels
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
28 -29 October - European Council, Brussels
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
13 December - British-Irish Council Summit, Isle of Man
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet
16-17 December - European Council, Brussels
Mode of TravelGovernment Jet

Photo of Lucinda CreightonLucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 99: To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide details of any foreign trips made by officials in his Department in the years 2009, 2010 and to date in 2011; the purpose of each trip; the costs associated with each trip broken down by air travel, ground transportation, hotel accommodation and entertaining expenses; if air travel was by way of commercial airline or Government jet; the mode of ground transportation used; the name of each hotel; the nature of the entertainment for which expenses were incurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2697/11]

Photo of Brian CowenBrian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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There were a total of 157 foreign trips made by officials in my Department. The breakdown requested by the Deputy is not readily available. The table details the total cost of foreign trips made by the Taoiseach, Ministers of State and officials in my Department from 1st January 2009 to date.

Foreign Travel Costs200920102011
Air Travel*â'¬115,354.11â'¬56,036.000
Hotel Costsâ'¬87,262.45â'¬36,561.75â'¬190.49
Taxiâ'¬1,489.08â'¬950.570
Car Hireâ'¬48,721.14â'¬29,178.850
Rail/Trainâ'¬366.98â'¬2,636.920
Ferry0â'¬686.000
Other receipted expenditureâ'¬2,341.40â'¬6,894.120

*Excluding the cost of the Government Jet which is met by the Department of Defence.

Photo of Lucinda CreightonLucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 100: To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide details of hotel accommodation used by him within the State while on ministerial duties in the years 2009, 2010 and to date in 2011; the name of each hotel in which he stayed; the costs associated with each stay and the purpose of each trip; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2727/11]

Photo of Brian CowenBrian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The table below details hotel accommodation within the State used by me on official duties during the years 2009 to date.

DateName of HotelPurpose of TripCost
18 March 2009Park Inn, Shannon AirportReturn flight from Washington to Baldonnel was diverted to Shannon Airport at 12.30am due to weather conditions.â'¬101.23

Photo of Lucinda CreightonLucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 101: To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide details of any foreign trips made by officials in public bodies under the remit of his Department in the years 2009, 2010 and to date in 2011, the purpose of each trip; the costs associated with each trip broken down by air travel, ground transportation, hotel accommodation and entertaining expenses; if air travel was by way of commercial airline or Government jet; the mode of ground transportation used; the name of each hotel; the nature of entertainment for which expenses were incurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2742/11]

Photo of Brian CowenBrian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The table below details foreign trips made by official in programmes and bodies under the aegis of my Department from 1st January 2009 to date.

Law Reform Commission

DatePurpose of JourneyFlightHotel CostHotel NamePublic Transport/ Taxis
2009
Jan2 Officials attended End of Life Decision Making: Dilemmas and Directions, Legal Research in Birmingham€135.92NilNil€123.21
May1 Official attended Trier-Cross Border mediation conference in Luxembourg for Legal Research€254.10€396.00Park Plaza TrierNil
2010
April1 Official attended The Fourth Conference of the Commission on European Family Law: the Future of Family Property in Europe, in Cambridge€160.96€114.50€11.80
June2 Officials attended "5 Jurisdictions Meeting" in London for meeting of 5 Law Reform Commissions€862.08£546.39Bloomsbury HotelNil
July1 Official attended "Meeting of the European Forum of Official Gazettes" in Rome€166.00€259Nazionale HotelNil

Irish Newfoundland Partnership

YearPurposeAir travel costsHotelTaxisEntertainment Expenses
March 20091 officialINP meetings in St. John's, Newfoundland and planning meetings regarding the official opening of Irish exhibition in The Rooms€3,331.59Sheraton Hotel€913.06€104.84€357.54
May 20091 officialINP meetings in St. John's, Newfoundland€1,014.06€0€45.89€0
September 20093 officialsINP meetings in St. John's and official opening of Irish exhibition in The Rooms€2,597.23Sheraton Hotel€1,464.04€140.96 (2 officials)€0

National Forum on Europe

YearPurposeAir travel costs
May 2009Meeting in Brussels€158.84

NESDO

The National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO) comes under the aegis of my Department. The information sought is contained in the following tabular statement. Air travel in all cases was by way of commercial airlines. The total cost of foreign trips in 2009 was €8,644.57 and in 2010 was €4,408.06. There have been no foreign trips made by officials of NESDO so far in 2011.

It was not possible in the time available to capture all the detail requested by the deputy, as some of it applies to two former constituent bodies of NESDO, the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF) and the National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP) which were discontinued on 1 April 2010. I will communicate with the deputy when the complete information is available.

DatePurpose of JourneyFlightsHotel CostHotel NameTaxisOther
Apr-09Berlin Work in Net Conference€ 223.05€ 14.50
Apr-09East Midlands Hospital of the Future Meeting with Peter Totterdell€ 83.69€265.09Hotel Izaak
May-09Boston, Harvard, Women's Leadership Board€ 2,216.40€ 880.00Charles Hotel Boston
2009Speaker Helsinki University of Technology€ 443.76€ 96.50
May-09London (Details on purpose of journey to follow)€ 118.81€ 37.24
Jun-09Brussels/Maastricht, Symposium on Health Care Reform€ 240.74Hotel Costs paid by third party and claimed from NCPPHotel Mabi
Jun-09Amsterdam Institute for Advanced labour StudiesDetails to followDetails to followDetails to follow€ 62.70€81.4
Jun-09Sofia, ESC AGM of the Secretary Generals€ 527.92€ 178.00Grand Hotel, Sofia€ 83.50€11.95
Aug-09Copenhagen to Oslo to Dublin (Details of purpose of journey to follow)€ 479.87€ 169.37Hotel Bristol, Oslo€ 56.90€13.68
Aug-09Boston, Harvard, Womens Leadership Board€ 1,443.19Details to followCharles Hotel Boston€ 58.90
Aug-09Amsterdam International Summer School€ 157.02Hotel paid for by Host organisation
Sep-09Conference Liege re Europe Report€ 166.48€ 178.00Ramada Plaza, Liege€ 92.70
Oct-09Budapest /Sofia Conference - Details to follow€ 200.51Details to followDetails to follow€ 62.70
Mar-10London, International Strategy Workshop at the Institute for Govt€ 193.55€ 441.11Details to follow€ 87.88€7.49
Apr-10Nottingham, Project Workshop for Hospital of the Future Project€83.69€ 265.09Izaak Walton Hotel,
May-10Speaking at conference in Cornell University€ 526.25€ 1,277.94Fitzparticks, Manhattan
May-10European Social Council Meeting Madrid€ 158.09€ 342.40Hotel NH Nacional€51.19
Sep-10Brussels European Social Council€ 654.98€ 257.00Details to follow€ 61.40

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