John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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370. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she travelled abroad as part of the St Patrick's Day celebrations; the locations she travelled to; the duration of the trip; the cost of the trip including travel and accommodation in addition to other expenses incurred; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18898/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that as part of the Government’s St Patrick’s Day schedule to foster opportunities for development of Irish businesses and international links, I visited the United States of America (USA) and visited Chicago, St Louis and New York. My trip was for 8 days from 8^thMarch to 16^thMarch.

The cost of the flights from Dublin to Chicago and internal flights within the USA from Chicago to St Louis, St Louis to Chicago and Chicago to New York was €1,112.21. An additional flight cost of €1,120.32 was incurred due to the adverse weather conditions in New York necessitating a flight from Chicago to Dublin to ensure my return to Ireland. The cost of gifts amounted to €89.80. Accommodation and other expenses incurred were not processed at the time the question was tabled.

In addition, the Ministers of State of my Department travelled as follows.

Minister John Halligan, TD, Minister of State for Training, Skills and Innovation, visited Brazil (Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, 2 days were in each city) from 12^thMarch to 20^thMarch (8 days of which 2 were travelling). The cost of the flights was €2229.48 which included the internal flight from Sao Paulo to Brasilia. The cost of the remaining internal flights for Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo was covered by the Irish Embassy in Brazil and these have not yet been invoiced to the Department. Minister Halligan stayed with the Irish Ambassador in Brasilia - there are no accommodation costs for Brasilia. The cost of the remaining accommodation for Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo was covered by the Irish Embassy in Brazil and has not yet been invoiced to the Department. The cost of gifts amounted to €323.59.

Minister Pat Breen, TD, Minister of State for Employment and Small Business, was on an Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission in the USA, (Texas - Austin and Houston) and was not on a St. Patrick's Day trip. The Minister attended a St Patrick’s Day event in Oklahoma on 15^thMarch, expenses incurred were not processed at the time the question was tabled.