Reilly used Government jet to return for debate

MINISTER FOR Health James Reilly used the Government jet on an official trip to Cyprus last week to allow him to return in time to participate in a Dáil debate on the health services.

Dr Reilly is one of five Ministers who have flown to Cyprus, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union, in recent weeks, but the only one who was allowed to use the jet.

His spokesman said last night that Dr Reilly had originally booked flights with a commercial airline to travel to an EU health ministers meeting, and had been scheduled to return to Ireland towards the end of last week.

However, on the Friday before he travelled Fianna Fáil tabled a Private Member’s motion in the Dáil condemning the €280 million over-run in the HSE budget this week.

“The Minister had already booked the flight, and it would have been impossible for him to arrive back on time to participate in the debate,” said the spokesman.

Dr Reilly then requested the use of the Government jet to allow him to return to Dublin in time to participate in the closing hour of the debate on Wednesday evening.

He had already arrived in Cyprus when a separate controversy arose over his name appearing as a debt defaulter in Stubbs’ Gazette.

His spokesman said Dr Reilly had taken advantage of “synergies” between Ministers.

He had shared the jet with Minister for Finance Michael Noonan on the outbound flight to Brussels before flying on to Cyprus. Dr Reilly has used the jet once previously, when he again shared the jet with Mr Noonan on the return leg of a trip to Luxembourg.

The use of the jet for the Minister’s trip to Cyprus is likely to have cost the taxpayer close to €20,000.

The other Ministers who have travelled to Cyprus over the past fortnight are: Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan; Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar; Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton and Minister of State for Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock. All used commercial flights.

The Government has put in place new rules regarding use of the jet. It can only be used in exceptional cases where a Minister can make a case that commercial flights were not available to allow a schedule to be fulfilled.

The most recent reply to a parliamentary question shows that the number of hours flown by the Government jet reduced considerably in 2011 compared to 2010 – down from 350 hours to 200 hours.