Latest news with #governmenttravel
BreakingNews.ie
03-07-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Over €500k spent on private jet trips for Taoiseach and Tánaiste so far this year
Almost €520,000 has been spent so far this year hiring private jets to bring the Taoiseach and Tánaiste on trips overseas. The Department of Defence said they had hired air taxis 11 times this year, including two trips for President Michael D Higgins. Advertisement They only provided details on the nine government flights, however, with an average cost of almost €58,000 for each of the nine journeys. The huge outlay began in January when just over €78,000 was paid for a jet to take Taoiseach Micheál Martin and a five-strong delegation to Katowice in Poland. That same-day flight included 314 minutes on board, with an average per hour flying cost of around €14,900. In February, three air taxis were chartered for the Taoiseach, the first one to Brussels early that month costing just under €42,000. Advertisement On February 9th, another jet took the Taoiseach and six officials first to Brussels, then to Paris at a cost of €43,700. Another flight in mid-February which travelled from the aerodrome at Baldonnel to Munich, then to Cork and back to Baldonnel proved the most expensive this year. The final bill for that trip – 289 minutes flying time in all – came to almost €82,000, according to records released under FOI. There were a further three air taxis for the Taoiseach in March, the first of which to Liverpool and Brussels cost around €67,500. Advertisement A trip in mid-March to Brussels with a stop-off in Cork on the way back cost just under €55,000, the Department of Defence said. A final flight that month to Paris cost nearly €40,500 for the Taoiseach and a delegation of five people. In April, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste Simon Harris travelled together to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis. That trip, which included 502 minutes of flight time, cost €71,797. Advertisement A second jet was also hired for President Michael D Higgins, but the Department of Defence refused to provide details of how much that cost. Under Freedom of Information laws, all records relating to the President are exempt from release, a transparency gap that is likely to come into focus again during the forthcoming election. The final flight for the Taoiseach in early May to Antwerp in Belgium cost nearly €39,000. One other air taxi was hired for the President in the period since May, but no details of that trip were provided by the department. The use of private jet charters has become increasingly common since the government's old Learjet was grounded last year after a series of mechanical problems. A new €53 million Dassault Falcon 6X jet has been ordered by the government but is not expected to begin service until 2026. One of the Air Corps' PC12 aircraft has also been used for eight ministerial flights this year. Seven of the flights were for the Tánaiste Simon Harris to travel to locations including Brussels, Munich, and Luxembourg while it was used for a single flight for the Department of Enterprise in April.
Reuters
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Senate Democrat requests probe into FBI Director Patel's use of government plane
WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - The top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday asked a congressional watchdog to scrutinize FBI Director Kash Patel's use of a government airplane, amid questions about his frequent personal travel and whether he is reimbursing the government. As FBI director, Patel is required to fly on a government plane for all his travel for security reasons. If such flights are used for personal travel, the director is required by federal regulations to reimburse the government at the rate of a commercial flight. The request from Senator Dick Durbin to the Government Accountability Office came the day Patel was slated to appear in the first of two congressional appropriations hearings where he will face questions about how he has been running the bureau and press Congress to give the FBI more money. An FBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Durbin's letter or answer questions on whether Patel had reimbursed the government for any travel that has been personal in nature. Patel, unlike most of his predecessors, has embraced the limelight as FBI director. His social media account on X is flooded with photos of him attending NHL games and Ultimate Fighting Championship matches, where he has posed for pictures with celebrities including legendary hockey player Wayne Gretzky and actor Mel Gibson. Public flight-tracking data shows that an FBI plane made at least three trips out to Nashville, where Patel's girlfriend and country singer Alexis Wilkins resides. On at least one of those trips, Patel met with Governor Bill Lee and Republican Senators Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn, according to his social media posts. Public flight records also show several FBI planes took trips to Las Vegas, where Patel maintains a residence, as well as to New York City. The timing of the New York flight coincided with an appearance by Patel at an Islanders hockey game. The New York Times previously reported on some of the flights. "Some of these flights appear to coincide with official business, but it is not clear whether all travel was mission-related or personal in nature," Durbin wrote in his letter. Durbin added that public reporting on the flights "underscores the need for clarity on whether DOJ executives—including the FBI Director — are complying with applicable regulations and reimbursement requirements for nonmission-related travel." Last week, Reuters reported that the White House is asking Congress to consider cutting the FBI's budget by about $550 million, from its current spending level of $10.6 billion. In prepared testimony on Wednesday before a U.S. House appropriations subcommittee, Patel urged Congress to give the bureau the funds it needs to combat violent crime and terrorism. "Without the funds to get ahead of our adversaries, we risk making tradeoffs that will jeopardize the safety of all Americans," he said in prepared remarks.
