Thursday, April 7, 2011

Leo scops the press!


Start as you mean to go on - that is the mantra of new Transport Minister Leo Varadkar who scooped every news organisation by being the first to reveal the cost of his St Patrick’s Day junket to India.

Every year, newspapers scramble to get the cost of the different Ministerial junkets but this year, young Leo decided to save us all the hassle and published the exact costs on his website - within days of returning.

Leo has never been backward in coming forward about how he spends his money - he was one of the first TDs to itemise his expenditure on his website.

And it seems he is carrying that practice on into Ministerial life.

For the record, the cost of his six day trip to India (accompanied by his private secretary as is normal practice) came in at just over €9,000.

This included flights to India, internal flights, overnight accommodation and gifts for dignitaries.

During the course of the trip, the Minister said he met over 100 people and addressed over 1,000 people at evening evening events in New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.

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