A number of junior ministers flew business class on their St Patrick’s Day junkets while their senior ministers flew economy class, the Irish Mirror has learned.
Of just eight ministers who flew business class, four were Ministers of State.
In three of these cases, the senior cabinet minister in their department flew in economy class.
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As part of this year’s St Patrick’s Day trips abroad, the Government sent 36 representatives to 74 cities in 44 countries.
The Irish Mirror contacted all Government departments to inquire whether their ministers and their delegations travelled business class. All departments responded except for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s Department of the Taoiseach and Tánaiste Micheál Martin’s Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Mirror saw Mr Varadkar travelling in business class on an Aer Lingus flight to Washington. His delegation flew economy. The Irish Mirror understands that the Tánaiste also flew business class while his delegation was in economy on his trip to New York.
Seven other Ministers or Ministers of State flew business class.
This includes Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue and his delegation who flew to New Zealand and Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney and his delegation who went to Australia. Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon also flew business class to South Korea with his delegation.
Ministers of State Thomas Byrne, Niall Collins and Josepha Madigan all flew business class while the senior Ministers in their departments flew economy.
Junior Sports Minister Byrne flew business class to Texas, USA. His delegation, consisting of his special adviser and private secretary, also flew business class.
Catherine Martin, the senior minister in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and her delegation flew economy class to California, where she visited Los Angeles and San Diego.
A spokesperson for the Department said that Minister Byrne flew business class “in line with the regulations governing official travel and in light of the scheduled flying time involved”.
Flying time to Dalllas is nine and a half hours, while flights to Los Angeles take 11 hours and 20 minutes.
Minister Collins, who is a Minister of State in the Department of Higher Education, flew business class from Dublin to the Philippines and from Malaysia to Heathrow London in London.
Simon Harris, the Cabinet Minister in the Department, flew economy class to San Francisco, USA, and Vancouver, Canada.
Minister of State at the Department of Education Josepha Madigan flew business class to the UAE and Qatar, while Education Minister Norma Foley flew economy class to Philadelphia and New York.
Several other ministers who travelled long distances travelled economy. This included Minister of State Jack Chambers, who went to Japan, and Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who represented Ireland in Kenya and Tanzania.
Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman, who went to India, also travelled in economy.
Minister of State Ossian Smyth, meanwhile, travelled via ferry, train and Eurostar to Brussels and onwards by train to The Hague.
He returned home on the L.E. William Butler Yeats Naval Vessel, which was travelling back to Ireland from The Hague at the same time.
Foreign Travel Policy Guidelines issued by the Department of Finance state that business class travel “should be confined to limited situations where the Head of the Department is satisfied that the additional cost can be justified in relation to the length of the flight and the official business to be conducted”.
Annual reviews into business class or premium economy must be conducted by Departments.
The Irish Mirror did not receive responses about how Ministers Sean Fleming or Patrick O’Donovan travelled as their Departments did not respond to queries.
"The spending on this is shocking," said Peadar Tóibín TD. "They should have flown economy class. Aontú is calling on each Minister to produce a statement outlining what deals or benefits they won for Ireland in their trips abroad.
"This spending is a slap in the face to the many people up and down our country who are currently searching for houses, those who are looking at electricity bills wondering how they'll pay them, and those queuing for food at food banks across the State."
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