Enterprise Ireland cancels €100,000 trip to New York

A €100,000 Enterprise Ireland trip to New York by 24 employees of the State agency was cancelled six days after receipt of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from The Irish Times.

The trip would have cost approximately €100,000. E-mails released by the agency indicate the 24 employees were to travel premier class at a cost of €3,002 each, making for a total cost for flights alone of about €72,000.

The group was to stay in the Sheraton Manhattan Hotel on 7th Avenue, at a cost of $300 per room per night plus service charges and taxes. Some of the employees were to stay for one night and some for four, with the majority staying for two or three nights. The total number of nights was 59, making for a hotel bill of $17,700 plus service charges and taxes.

The FOI request for all documentation relating to the trip was received by the agency on November 13th and Mr Peter Coyle, executive director, international services, Americas and Asia, was notified. He was asked to assign a "decision-maker" to process the request. Mr Coyle was to travel to the conference himself as was Mr Dan Flinter, chief executive of Enterprise Ireland.

On November 19th an e-mail was sent out to a number of Enterprise Ireland executives, including Mr Flinter and Mr Coyle, stating that following "consultations with Peter Coyle and Jim Daly, chief accountant, it has been decided to defer those elements of the conference involving travel from Dublin.

"This decision has been made in the light of the decision by the executive committee to seek economies on a range of budgets within the organisation, including travel. The main element of the conference, business strategy review and 2003 planning for the Americas market, will proceed as planned.

"We are examining the potential offered by video conferencing to include wider participation and will confirm arrangements as they are put in place."

A copy of the e-mail, as well as some other documents linked to the New York meeting which were generated after the FOI request was submitted, was released by the agency as part of its response to the request even though they fell outside the scope of the request.

A spokesman for the agency said the decision to cancel travel from Dublin for the meeting was not linked to the FOI request.

When The Irish Times contacted the Enterprise Ireland press office prior to submitting the FOI request to ask about the trip, a note was sent to Mr Coyle along with a breakdown as to who was to attend the conference.

It showed people going from various sections of the agency, including seven from software and international services and five from industrial products.

The spokesman told The Irish Times on that occasion that the trip was in relation to an annual conference to cover issues relating to the Americas.

Enterprise Ireland is an agency designed to help Irish companies and in particular to assist them in developing sales and exports. It helps Irish manufacturing and internationally traded services companies. It has 30 offices worldwide.

The agenda for the meeting in New York, which was to take place in the Enterprise Ireland office on Park Avenue, was for three days, December 4th to 7th. The delegates were to hear presentations from agency executives and speakers about corporate strategy in 2003 and US regional issues.