€554,000 bill for 'high-flying' lifestyle
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THE embattled Ceann Comhairle ran up a bill of €554,000 during his five years as 'Minister for Fun'.
And since being appointed as Ceann Comhairle, John O'Donoghue has received almost €330,000 in allowances and expenses on top of his basic TD salary.
The Kerry South TD racked up huge travel bills during his tenure as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism between 2002 and 2007. A travel bill of €350,000 was incurred by O'Donoghue and his wife, Kate-Ann, during his first three and a half years in office. The couple racked up a further €126,000 in expenses in 2006 and 2007, plus a further €75,000 in using the government jet.
Combined, this brings the overall spend to €554,000 -- but it does not include flights and hotels paid for by other State agencies. Huge sums were paid on flights, both first-class flights and through use of the government jet.
In 2002 the then minister used the government jet to fly to the opening of an Irish College in Paris at a cost of €26,297. Two years later he flew to the Netherlands for the closing ceremony of European Year of Education through Sport at a cost of €23,670. At one stage he commandeered the government jet for nearly six days. During that time he had a return trip to Ireland from abroad to attend a constituency event.
Trips
He and his wife flew to Cannes before heading back to Kerry to attend the opening of new offices.
He then went to Cardiff for a Heineken Cup match before going back to France. The trips cost the taxpayer at least €32,450.
One of the most heavily criticised expenses was for €472, a relatively small sum. However it was spent on a limo to collect the Minister at Terminal One in Heathrow Airport and bring him to Terminal 3.
The same trip would have taken three minutes on an airport shuttle -- and was free.
However Junior Minister Conor Lenihan defended the expense, saying the Kerry TD was the last person in the world who would be extravagant on his travels.
"He's not the kind of man who takes an interest in that kind of stuff. He just goes from A to B and does his job," said Mr Lenihan.
He pointed out that it was not the minister who booked the limo but rather State officials.
- Edel Kennedy
