Revealed: Junior minister flying to Abu Dhabi in business class while Darragh O’Brien flew economy

An analysis of travel records showed that earlier this year, a junior minister flew in business class, while a senior minister from his department flew in economy class on the same flight.

Peter Burke, Minister of State for Housing, was given a business class allowance on a flight to Abu Dhabi as part of a government trip on St Patrick’s Day, documents show.

His senior colleague – Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien – flew with him but had to fly economy class.

In total, seven government representatives – including the Irish prime minister, Tanest, two senior green ministers and the attorney general – flew business class on their St Patrick’s Day trip. Business class seats have three times the carbon footprint of economy class seats.

As part of the St. Patrick’s Day program, Mr. Burke traveled to Japan and South Korea.

Fine Gael TD’s journey began with a stopover flight from Dublin to Abu Dhabi on 12 March – the same flight that Darragh O’Brien, Housing Minister, was on to Dubai Expo.

Mr Burke and his personal secretary flew business class, while Mr O’Brien and two assistants were booked in standard seats for the seven-hour journey. With the exception of the economy class flight from Tokyo to Seoul, South Korea, all of Mr. Burke’s flights during the trip were in business class.

A Department of Housing statement said the travel policy “is in full compliance with the rules set by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

“For Secretary Burke’s St. Patrick’s Day visit to Japan and South Korea, business class travel was deemed appropriate by the Commerce Department due to the long-haul nature of the trip, the need for work while traveling, and his subsequent 25 high-level events in these two nation.”

Elsewhere, the environment minister and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan In March, he flew from Dublin to Washington and from New York to Dublin in business class for 3,312 euros.

Tourism minister and the party’s deputy leader Catherine Martin traveled in business class as part of a trip to Argentina, which included a stopover in Paris and a flight back to Amsterdam. The total cost of the Minister, her Private Secretary and Special Adviser is EUR 18,735.

A spokeswoman for Ms Martin’s department said the decisions “depended on the requirements of the trip”, adding that her work “started immediately after the 17-hour journey”.​​​

Taysage Michael Martin He was one of a nine-member delegation to the White House for St. Patrick’s Day in Washington, D.C.

Among them, the prime minister, his wife, chief of staff Deirdre Gillane and the prime minister’s personal secretary Maura Duffy traveled in business class.

The rest are sitting in economy class for outbound travel.

However, after Taoiseach tested positive for Covid while in the US, all delegates were upgraded to business class on the return flight, resulting in flight bookings being revised.

More luxurious travel has added costs, with business-class fares almost three times higher than standard travel, initial booking records show. For example, an economy class booking for a trip to Washington cost 861 euros, with one security detail costing 2,394 euros, compared to Taoiseach which initially charged 2,394 euros for the same business class return flight.

Elsewhere, Tanest Leo Varadkar Travel to Chile and Colombia with Private Secretary Éamonn Mc Cormack and Chief of Staff Brian Murphy.

The trio flew from Dublin to London in economy class and continued their journey in business class, which included a stopover in Madrid before arriving in Santiago.

They later flew to Bogota, Colombia in economy class, then returned to Dublin in business class, again with a stopover in Madrid, for a total cost of 3,434 euros per person.

Other business class trips as part of a government trip on St. Patrick’s Day included Colm Brophy, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, who flew to Mexico for €2,121. The government’s lawyer, Attorney General Paul Gallagher, flew business class to Washington for 3,254 euros.

Under government policy, ministerial departments are required to pay an annual fee to the Climate Action Fund run by the Environment Ministry by calculating the carbon emissions from business air travel.

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