Dempsey: I've changed my travel expenses regime totally

The revelation that Minister for Transport and Trim TD Noel Dempsey spent more than €70,000 on a St Patrick's Day trip to California and Texas in 2007 has met with an angry reaction in the county. The 10-day trip for Minister Dempsey, his wife Bernadette, and three staff in 2007 ended up costing more than €70,000, according to figures from the Department of Communications. In the week that has seen Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue fall on his sword over lavish expenditure, the figures have led to claims that the Government has lost the moral authority to govern and that the minister acted in a cavalier manner with taxpayers' money. However, Mr Dempsey said the purpose of the US trip was to promote Ireland to business representatives as a place to invest and to promote Ireland to US tourism groups and representatives. In a statement this week, he said that, in the past 12 months, he had changed the way in which expenses for overseas travel were dealt with by his department. The department now has full control over all expenses incurred on such trips so that all costs can be rigorously controlled and kept to a minimum, he added. The figures for the 2007 US trip include €19,500 for car hire and chauffeur. The minister's flights cost more than €8,100. Mr Dempsey's took the trip to the US when he was Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. According to Navan councillor Peadar Tóibín, Fianna Fail ministers had been "swanning around the world, spending massive amounts of our money on lavish junkets, as if it was the last days of the Roman Empire". The Sinn Fein councillor added: "In our own constituency, Minister Dempsey sees fit to spend €70,000 of our tax money on one trip with his wife to California, yet funding for emergency services in Navan Hospital is being withdrawn, RAPID Navan cannot recruit a co-ordinator and money promised to disadvantaged estates in the town has been effectively frozen." Cllr Tóibín said the €19,500 spent on a chauffeur-driven limousine for the trip was equal to the earnings of many people in our county for a whole year. "This cavalier attitude to public money became all-pervasive during the Celtic Tiger years throughout all levels of Fianna Fáil and in some State and semi-State bodies such as Fás. "I am calling on Minister Dempsey to account for this over-the-top spending. I am calling on the minister to detail fully the expenses that were incurred on this trip and all other trips he has made as a minister. He should also report back to the people of Meath on what exactly he achieved for the country for €75,000," said Cllr Tóibín. Deputy Damien English said the bill for the 2007 trip was continuing evidence of the greed and excess of the Government on expenses. "These revelations come in the midst of a deep recession, with unemployment at almost 13 per cent, a 140 per cent increase in unemployment in County Meath, and thousands of families facing negative equity. It is not just Noel Dempsey who has been exposed in this expenses scandal - it is most of the cabinet." Deputy English said funding for badly-needed local family resource centres was now being cut because of the excesses enjoyed by government ministers. "Clearly, this Government has lost its moral authority to govern. It is long past time for minister's and Oireachtas members' expenses to be overhauled and reformed to reflect not only the changing economic conditions but a higher level of professionalism and accountability within the political system that is required in our modern society," he said. Deputy Shane McEntee said ministers and officials had overstepped the mark and gave politics a bad name. "Nobody can justify that kind of money being spend over 10 days," he said. Deputy McEntee said he had been pushing for a proper system of vouched expenses for the past year. Cllr Niamh McGowan described the expenses as outrageous and said the minister would have to answer questions on what was gained by that expenditure. Senator Dominic Hannigan said reform to the expenses regime for politicians needed to be introduced immediately to restore credibility in the system. "I am concerned that the whole issue of expenses reform has taken far too long," he said. The minister said the purpose of the trip was to promote Ireland to business representatives as a place to invest in and to promote Ireland to US tourism groups He said he was also invited to attend a conference in California on public-private partnerships in order to promote Ireland to the international investment community as an attractive place in which to invest in major infrastructure projects. He said he had used the opportunity of his St Patrick's Day trip to the US to attend this conference. Mr Dempsey's statement included a detailed timetable for the 10-day trip, which included a meeting with the president and CEO of Marathon Oil, Mr Clarence P Cazalot Jnr, and a briefing at Rice University by Dr Wade Adams of the Smalley Institute for Nanoscience and Technology. The minister also met with Mr George Abbey, former director of the Johnson Space Centre, and Dr Denis Headon, president of Biolink USA-Ireland. Mr Dempsey visited the Port of Houston and attended a reception hosted by the Irish Honorary Consul with Irish science postgraduate students in Houston and Irish mentors as part of the Science Challenge programme. The trip also involved a lunch meeting with energy executives at Houston Country Club as well as attending the Irish Societies of Houston St Patrick's Eve gala dinner. He then attended the St Patrick's Day parades in Houston and San Antonio in Texas and participated in the Public-Private Partnerships Conference in California.