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The Department of Foreign Affairs has released its expenditure report for 2024, revealing significant spending on international travel and accommodation. The report details specific high-cost items, including luxury hotel stays and premium flight tickets, used by officials to attend conferences and meetings across the globe.
Accommodation costs are high in the town of Davos, Switzerland, when politicians gather for the World Economic Forum. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/GettyThe department also ran up an accommodation bill of just under €13,000 for hotel rooms during the COP30 climate conference inThe nightly cost of the room in New York was close to €400 for a staff member to stay at the four-star Shelburne Sonesta during the In total, the department spent almost €4.2 million on flights last year with a further €2.58 million paid for hotels and accommodation.
Robbie Keane’s relentless ambition continues to be hindered by decision to manage in IsraelSome of the largest individual bills included a payment of €16,645 to Hodel Immobilien, a rental agency based in the Swiss capital Bern. It covered the cost for official attendance at the annual WEF conference in Davos, during which accommodation costs are traditionally high. More than €6,000 was spent on a hotel in Sydney for three officials to attend a conference on passport security.
The staff stayed at the city’s Four Seasons Hotel for six nights in deluxe rooms with a “partial harbour view”. An information note said attendance helped “ensure the Irish passport reflects the most recent security and anti-fraud technology”. Invoices included €14,778 for a diplomat and family members to travel with Qatar Airways and another bill with the same airline for €10,395 covering economy-class travel.
A separate bill amounting to €12,873 was paid for accommodation for Irish public servants attending the COP30 climate conference in Brasília. Department records showed money was paid to a real estate company in the Brazilian capital, which rents out apartments.
Asked about the expenditure, a spokesperson said: “The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade by the nature of its international work undertakes a significant amount of international travel and uses hotel accommodation in meeting the objectives set in its strategic plan.
“The Department complies with policies and procedures in relation to international travel and attendance at meetings and events. ”EU presidency hits Wicklow next week and Burnham nixes talk of a Border pollIrish woman named as Spanish police await postmortems on couple found dead in hot tubAndy Burnham in Belfast: Mixing up Donegal and Drogheda, but crystal clear on Border pollEU presidency hits Wicklow next week and Burnham nixes talk of a Border pollElectric Picnic 2026: Friday stage times for all the top areas, weather forecast and more Our politics team's behind-the-scenes take on events of the day. Sent Monday to Friday when the Dáil is in session
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