Who went where and what they spent

TDs' TRAVEL: As the Dáil term comes to a close, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal who has been travelling where in the line of duty this year and how much it has cost. Colin Murphy and David Long report

A group of eight TDs and Senators cost the State over €30,000 on a recent trip to the Philippines on behalf of the Irish Parliamentary Association (IPA). Seanad Cathaoirleach Rory Kiely, led the delegation to the annual Inter-Parliamentary Union, which took place in May this year in Manila.

The IPA has spent over €92,000 in total on foreign travel since last October on trips to Scotland, Switzerland, Ghana, Russia and the Philippines. In 2003, an IPA delegation spent €67,541 attending the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Chile. Senator Don Lydon, who was in Manila, said the union was "the most wonderful opportunity to hear the different points of view of different countries" and "one of the few organisations where everybody turns up".

As might be expected, the Foreign Affairs committee is the most travelled of the regular Oireachtas committees, with its members taking 11 trips between September and May, at a total cost of just over €70,000. Fianna Fáil's Michael Woods ran up the most air miles with the committee, going on seven trips, including a two-week trip to Ethiopia.

Also running up large travel bills were the committees for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources – almost €47,000 – and Arts, Sports and Culture – €40,000 – with most of these expenses coming from long-haul trips to non-EU destinations. The Transport committee had the lowest foreign travel expenses, at €4,400.

Widely reported at the time, the Communications committee sent a delegation to Argentina in May this year. Noel O'Flynn, who was in Argentina with colleagues from the committee in May, also travelled to Australia last September. He was accompanied by TD Paul Kehoe and Senator Brendan Kenneally on a trip to attend the five-day World Energy Congress in Sydney, from 5 to 9 September. Their trip lasted 20 days, from 1 to 20 September, and cost €32,636.

They explained the extra time required for the trip as being for meetings with New Zealand energy officials; with Screen Producers Australia; with Australian officials dealing with communications, the marine and natural resources; and for a visit to a mine. On the return journey, the group took a "stop over in Singapore to examine both Broadband and Mobile telephony".

The delegation has prepared a draft report on their trip, but this has yet to be agreed by the committee.

The Arts, Sports and Tourism committee also took a number of long-haul trips to Tokyo and Buenos Aires. Jim Glennon, James Breen and Cecilia Keaveney went on a nine-day trip to Toyko in March, costing almost €18,000.

The purpose of their visit is described in a document provided by the Oireachtas committee secretariat: "The Joint Committee is in the course of preparing a report on Olympic Sporting Activity and a report on Drug Abuse and the main reason for the visit was to meet with the appropriate Japanese authorities in these areas to see how the issues are dealt with by them... The delegation also networked with their Japanese Parliamentary counterparts".

Breen and Keaveny also travelled to Buenos Aires in November 2004, this time accompanied by Peter Kelly, at a cost of €22,461. (Both groups were accompanied by an official.) This trip was justified as follows:

"The purpose of the visit has been seen in the light of the issues for which the joint Committee has responsibility and in the context of its ongoing Work Programme. The Joint Committee is currently preparing reports on sport (with particular reference to the Olympics and mass participation in sporting activity) and on drug addiction. Buenos Aires afforded the opportunity of meeting with the Argentinian authorities in these areas and to hear of their experiences and applying their approach to the Irish situation where relevant." The delegation also had meetings dealing with tourism and "establishing relations with counterpart parliamentarians".

Sean Ardagh led a team of six TDs and senators from the Justice, Equality and Law Reform committee on a "study visit" to New Delhi, India, in October 2004, at a cost of €11,095.

The trip was to "examine recent law reforms and administrative developments in the areas of promotion of racial tolerance and equality issues and the empowerment of women in India". A report on this trip by the delegation is still being prepared. The delegation flew economy.

Also in October last, the Dáil Committee on Members' Interests spent €16,180 sending a three-man team to Sydney to meet with the ethics committee of regional parliaments to discuss their measures for "reviewing the ethical conduct" of members of parliament.