O'Dea's modest bill of €8,000 for 10 foreign trips
Saturday November 21 2009
THERE are Government ministers who needlessly fritter away thousands of euro while representing the country abroad -- and then there's Willie O'Dea.
In an age when the public purse has been battered by over-the-top spending on limos, VIP airport lounges and swanky hotels, the Defence Minister shines out as a beacon of frugality.
Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that Mr O'Dea has accounted for less than €8,000 in foreign travel expenses across 10 foreign visits since the last general election.
And €500 of those related to necessary yellow fever and typhoid vaccines for Mr O'Dea and officials for a visit to troops in Africa.
To put things in context, Mr O'Dea's overall bill is less than the cost of Health Minister Mary Harney's chauffeur bill from just one of her trips abroad.
Taxpayers forked out €10,200 so Ms Harney could be driven around in luxury vehicles during her controversial US visit in February 2008, when she went to the Super Bowl.
In contrast, Mr O'Dea racked up no personal expenses at all, apart from the cost of his accommodation, on several foreign visits.
And on one occasion, a visit to Lullea in Sweden for Nordic Battlegroup training exercises in July 2007, he claimed no expenses at all.
Reluctant
Granted, Mr O'Dea uses the government jet on most of his foreign trips. But this is hardly surprising given he has to get to such out of the way places as Kosovo and Chad.
The documents released to the Irish Independent reinforce the view of many observers that Mr O'Dea is reluctant to spend too much time away from constituency matters.
When he has stayed away overnight, Mr O'Dea has generally eschewed expensive hotels.
The most expensive accommodation he has stayed in over the past two years was the €445-a-night Sofitel Hotel in Brussels. Apart from that bill, all his other hotel stays have cost taxpayers less than €250-a-night.
This a far cry from the €943 Transport Minister Noel Dempsey spent on one night at a hotel in Singapore last year, or former Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue's €899-a-night hotel bill from a stay at a Liverpool hotel in 2006.
The expenses also illustrate Mr O'Dea's penchant for retiring to his room early. The minister often chose to have his dinner alone in his room while working, with the largest room service dinner bill being just €28.
On only one occasion during the 10 foreign trips did he pick up a large restaurant tab -- a €648 bill for a meal with officials and senior army officers in Bosnia in March last year.
He made just one foray to the hotel mini-bar during his foreign visits. The cost of the item was €2.60.
The only real black mark against Mr O'Dea was the use of expensive car hire on four occasions. He racked up a total car hire bill of €4,000 from one visit to France and three to Belgium. However, again, this pales into insignificance compared to the chauffeur bills run up by some other ministers.
- Shane Phelan Investigative Correspondent
Irish Independent
