Criticism of cost of flight to city airport

Minister Noel Dempsey used a luxury Irish Government jet which costs almost 6,500 per hour to use. The Gulfstream IV jet, which is capable of Trans-Atlantic flight was used instead of the smaller Irish Government Learjet which was reportedly undergoing maintenance work at the time.

Mr Dempsey encountered further criticism when it was revealed that his Garda driver was on hand to pick him up in his ministerial car after having driven 247km from Dublin.

The minister was then driven roughly another 100km to Glenties in Co Donegal to attend the MacGill Summer School. He insisted this was necessary in order that he would be there in time to make a scheduled speech at 4pm on July 19.

Mr Dempsey defended the move by saying that he required the jet to attend a meeting in London which cropped up at short notice. He said he could not relay any details of the meeting because it involved sensitive government business relating to aviation.

So between the two flights, one to London and one to City of Derry Airport, the entire cost reached 13,000 Euros.

After making his appointment at the Mac Gill Summer School Mr Dempsey was then driven back to Londonderry’s airport by the Garda driver before travelling to London at 8pm. The minister claimed that his office had investigated all the options for making the journey and that they had been under orders to ensure he would arrive at destinations in the most economical way.

The Transport Minister also defended the use of his Garda driver who made a round trip of almost 700km. He said that the driver was his security as he was going into Northern Ireland but the same mechanism would have been in place had he been travelling to a destination in the Republic of Ireland.

Politicians have accused the minister of wasting taxpayers’ money. Fine Gael representative for Donegal East, Joe McHugh said the minister had missed the chance to contribute to the local economy and said he could have flown into Donegal’s airport at Carrickfinn and put money in the pocket of a local taxi driver to take him to Glenties.

Ryanair also pointed out that it operated a service from Belfast to London Stansted at 8.10pm from Belfast for 50 Euros as well as a 9.55pm flight from Dublin to Stansted on the day in question.