2007 St Patrick's Day Dempsey trip cost taxpayer €75,000

THE Minister for Transport, Meath West TD Noel Dempsey, attended St Patrick's Day events in the Australian cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane over the past week.

His trip took place as the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, defended ministerial trips abroad for St Patrick's Day, saying that it was a once-a-year opportunity to showcase Ireland across the world, and a unique chance to bring business and tourism to the country.

RTÉ News revealed last week that the trips abroad cost the taxpayer more than €560,000 in 2007, and that the biggest cost for a single delegation was Mr Dempsey's trip to the US when he was Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.

It cost nearly €75,000 for the minister, his wife and three officials for their trip to California and Texas. Mr Dempsey's flights cost more than €8,100, while chauffeur and car hire cost €19,500.

Bertie Ahern told the Dáil a lot of thought is put into deciding where ministers go, and Ireland was benefiting.

Last week, Minister Dempsey addressed over 800 people at an Irish-Australian Chamber of Commerce corporate breakfast in Melbourne. He used the opportunity to promote trade and investment links between Ireland and Australia and to acknowledge the strong business relationships that already exist between both countries.

"Ireland is a land of opportunity, especially for Australian companies wishing to use Ireland as a platform to grow their business into the expanded EU. Ireland remains one of the world's key locations for cutting edge industries and we are working hard to maintain our competitive advantage in this area," Mr Dempsey said.

He then gave the keynote address at the annual St Patrick's Day lunch of the Lansdowne Club - the premier Irish business network in Sydney. This event was attended by over 1,000 people drawn from the Irish-Australian business community. Other guests at the event included the Australian Minister for Regional Development, Mr Tony Kelly, and several senior executives of leading Australian companies.

Later that evening, Minister Dempsey gave the keynote address at the 110th annual St Patrick's Dinner of the Queensland Irish Association in Brisbane. Over 600 guests attended the event, including the Lord Mayor of Brisbane and the Deputy Premier of Queensland.

"The ties between Ireland and Australia are strong," Mr Dempsey told the audience. "There are more than 13,000 young Irish people on working holiday visas in Australia and some 2,000 young Australians in Ireland at any one time. An estimated 150,000 Australians visit Ireland each year and over 60,000 Irish visit  Australia. The relationship between both countries is strong and has the capacity to develop further."