Documents disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that over the past nine months, more than €450,000 has been invested by the government in private aircraft rentals for foreign journeys undertaken by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin. The regime announced last year its intent to invest €45 million in a new jet, citing the unreliability and susceptibility to faults of the previously employed Learjet 45 for official purposes.
The record indicates a sum of €459,000 used for hiring private jets for the travel of Mr Varadkar and Mr Martin in the last nine months, with €300,000 of this amount draining on the five foreign tours lead by the Fine Gael chief. A significant portion of the expenditure, €110,014, was spent to rent a private plane for a two-day visit to the western Balkans by Mr Varadkar in January, where he visited North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Montenegro. Additional €72,000 was used for chartering a jet to Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, in May for a summit of European heads.
Last October and December saw €94,429 expenses on trips to Brussels as per the figures by the Department of Defence. Mr Varadkar’s voyage to Copenhagen, Denmark, in November, required a further €24,700. For Mr Martin’s Israel and Egypt tour in the same month, €158,000 was spent hiring a private jet.
After the Learjet couldn’t make it to take off due to a fault in December when Simon Harris, the Minister for Higher Education was due to fly to Brussels, the Department had expressed a total lack of faith in the Learjet to the Air Corps. Following this, Jacqui McCrum, the department secretary-general, communicated to Defence Forces Chief-of-Staff Sean Clancy that in her opinion, the aircraft should be removed from service.
According to the Department of the Taoiseach, the expense of hiring private planes for official voyages would be “roughly equivalent to the yearly cost of buying and operating a replacement aircraft for the existing Government jet”. The necessity of these travels, including the attendance of international meetings, has been highlighted and it was pointed out that due to its constant unavailability and nearing end of its service life, the Learjet has become ineffective.
“When there is no appropriate replacement aircraft from the Air Corps, the utilisation of an air taxi service becomes imperative,” the statement conveyed. “For a myriad of international events and gatherings that often get extended, or situations where Ministers must hastily return from overseas for Dáil dealings, non-commercial flights are crucial.”
Officials mentioned that Mr Varadkar occasionally travels by commercial flight, predominantly for journeys outside of Europe.
“If used for frequent travel within Europe, it would necessitate consistent absences from Cabinet discussions, Cabinet committee sessions, and the Dáil. Travelling that could be accomplished through non-commercial flights within half a day might demand an entire day and an overnight stay with commercial airlines,” the statement explained.
The Defence Department is currently procuring a new mid-sized aircraft to be deployed for official journeys, air ambulance patient relocations, and aiding Irish citizens abroad in challenging circumstances.
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