Five star luxury digs in the Intercontinental Lisbon for a Department of Foreign Affairs policy wonk attending the Web Summit cost the taxpayer almost €500 a night for four nights last November.
The lavish spend at the tech conference was approved and sanctioned by Department chiefs despite the fact that the Irish Government lost the hosting of the exclusive gig in Dublin the year before, where accommodation and subsistence costs would have come to nil.
They defended the five star splurge at the Intercontinental on the grounds that it was important for their Sir Humpreys to enjoy the height of luxury for “networking and contact building” purposes.
Social Democrats co-leader, Catherine Murphy, told the Irish Mirror that department should lead by example and not waste public money needlessly on expensive hotels while away on trips.
The Irish Mirror received the details regarding the trip following a Freedom of Information request.
Similar requests were sent to all other government departments too, which revealed that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was the only one that had records of any officials attending the Web Summit last November.
Bobby McDonagh, director of the policy and communications division at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, was put up in one of Lisbon’s fanciest hotels, the five star Intercontinental for four nights while attending the Web Summit.
His room costs came to a mouth-watering €1,460, coupled with subsistence claims of a further €260, and flight costs of €314, giving a total hit to the taxpayer of over €2,000 for four days.
A junior colleague also travelled to Lisbon with him, Ciara Traynor, director of the web and digital section at the department.
However, her costs for the three nights she stayed were far more modest.
Ms Traynor’s flights cost far less, just €142, while the total cost for her three night hotel stay in Lisbon was just €202.50.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman defended the spending on Mr McDonagh’s trip when questioned by the Irish Mirror.
“Ciara Traynor stayed for 3 nights in Brown’s Downtown Hotel, Lisbon,” the spokesman said.
“Bobby McDonagh stayed in Lisbon for an additional night due to meetings with the Portuguese Foreign Ministry.
“While there he stayed in the InterContinental Hotel.
“This hotel was recommended by the organisers of the Web Summit due to his role as Speaker/Facilitator and, given the significance of the conference, it was agreed he should stay at one of the speaker hotels to facilitate networking and contact building.”
Ms Murphy of the Social Democrats criticised the excessive spending by the government department.
“It’s totally understandable that when civil servants are sent abroad on official government business, they can travel in reasonable comfort and are put up in decent accommodation,” Ms Murphy said.
“But this is public money that we are talking about, so there has to be a very strict eye kept on value for money.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs should make it a firm rule that all of its officials, whether they are junior or senior, do everything they can to keep travel and accommodation costs to a minimum.
“The difference between the expenses of both officials here is very substantial, and it’s hard to see any justification for this.
“Surely in a touristy city like Lisbon there must have been more reasonably priced alternatives available to the Hilton?”
Dublin became somewhat of a laughing stock when Web Summit founder and native Dub, Paddy Cosgrave, decided to up sticks and take the Web Summit away from Dublin after repeated clashes with the Government.
He publicly lashed out at the State for not supporting his event and there was much embarrassment when basic errors - such as a breakdown of broadband - at the event marred the hosting and damaged the reputation of what has now become the largest tech summit in the world.
It was estimated to be worth tens of millions to the local economy and it bolstered Dublin’s claim to being a conference destination.
Lisbon has now secured the rights and following last November’s second hosting it is now installed in the Portuguese capital as one of the city’s key visitor events.
