A number of junior ministers flew business class on their St Patrick’s Day junkets while their senior ministers flew economy class, the Irish Mirror has learned.In three of these cases, the senior cabinet minister in their department flew in economy class.As part of this year’s St Patrick’s Day trips abroad, the Government sent 36 representatives to 74 cities in 44 countries.
Ministers of State Thomas Byrne, Niall Collins and Josepha Madigan all flew business class while the senior Ministers in their departments flew economy. A spokesperson for the Department said that Minister Byrne flew business class “in line with the regulations governing official travel and in light of the scheduled flying time involved”.
Simon Harris, the Cabinet Minister in the Department, flew economy class to San Francisco, USA, and Vancouver, Canada.