Former Minister flew to Galway on state helicopter to tell us to 'tighten our belts'!

A Minister flew to Galway by Government helicopter, at taxpayers’ expense, and then preached a sermon about the need for local authorities to ‘tighten their belts’ and to reduce spending through “efficiency reviews”.

Newly released State records show that former Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe, a cabinet Minister in the previous Fianna Fáil led administration, used the Government helicopter to fly from Phoenix Park in Dublin to Galway Airport.

The trip on the EC135 helicopter was made on September 1, 2010, and according to records it cost the taxpayer about €1,590 for the 50 minutes journey.

In a speech to a conference in Galway city later that day, Minister O’Keeffe made reference to how the country was experiencing a period of “constrained public spending”, and he talked about how his Government was working to “stabilise public finances”.

The then Minister had requested the aircraft from the Department of Defence and the request would have been cleared by An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen’s office.

Using one of the Government jets would have been far more expensive than helicopter, however, it is not known why Mr O’Keeffe didn’t travel to Galway by motorway in his Ministerial car.

The records show he did not return to Dublin by helicopter and it is understood his Ministerial driver would have travelled to Galway by road, as he travelled in the skies, and then chauffeured him on the return journey. “Helicopters have been used on occasion for Ministerial air transport in situations where, for operational reasons, fixed wing aircraft may not have been available or suitable for a particular mission,” said the current Justice and Defence Minister Alan Shatter.

Despite incurring costs of over €1,500, the then Minister O’Keeffe, who had been invited to open the 2010 Irish Manufacturing Council’s annual conference in Galway, told his audience how costs in local government should be pared back.

In his speech to business leaders at the conference, held at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Minister O’Keeffe said Ireland needed to improve its competitiveness to attract more Foreign Direct Investment.

“We are already seeing a recovery in cost-competitiveness with lower business costs, particularly wages and energy. We are reducing the administrative burden by driving better regulation. Local authority charges remain a great concern of the business sector and we will progress the recommendations of the recent efficiency review of the local authority system to secure savings which will further reduce pressure on business and ensure we can sustain and create jobs,” he said.

Mr O’Keeffe, in his speech, added: “Creating and protecting employment is the driving force behind so much of our work in stabilising our public finances and getting our banking system working again.

“It is the reason why in a time of constrained public spending we are continuing to invest so heavily in our capital programme in building necessary infrastructure and investing so much in enterprise, research and development.”

A Cork TD for over 20 years, Mr O’Keeffe did not stand for Fianna Fáil in the 2011 General Election. According to the records of ministerial travel by Government jet or helicopter, he was the only Minister in the last three years who used a Government jet or helicopter at taxpayers’ expense to fly to Galway on official Government business.