Govt departments spend more than €4m in expenses in 19 months
Reports today suggest that a number of Government departments have racked up €4.35m in expenses over the past 19 months.
A report in today's Daily Star claims that the Department of Foreign Affairs clocked up the biggest bill - €295,000.
Senior civil servants have been using Irish taxpayers' money on taxi fares (€700,000), photographers (€200,000) and attending conferences which cost a further €150,000.
The Irish Daily Star article also revealed that €3.3m was spent on expert consultant reports.
The Department of Foreign Affairs was the biggest spender, totting up €295,000 since the Coalition got into power 19 months ago.
This was mainly due to the visit of the Queen of England last year, US President Barak Obama, the Chinese Vice President and other dignitaries.
Elsewhere, Cabinet and launch photos, portraits and photocalls cost the state €200,000 with the Taoiseach's Department spending €37,000 alone.
When it comes to taxi fares, the biggest culprits were the Department of Agriculture with just over €69,000, the Department of the Taoiseach (almost €60,000) and the Department of Social Protection at just over €54,000.
