Taoiseach defends the €30m cost of visit amid €5m shortfall
THE Taoiseach has defended costs of up to €30m for the papal visit for the World Meeting of Families, as the Irish organisers rally to raise the final €5m of a €21m goal.
Neither the State nor the organisers of the WMOF will issue details on the agreement reached between the parties, and will not release costs and expenditure until after the event. It is not clear if the projected costs of up to €30m include the €21m, which the WMOF itself hopes to raise.
The last WMOF, where up to $50m (€43.2m) was raised by organisers, was held three years ago in Philadelphia and saw its organisers pay the City of Philadelphia $5.23m (€4.51m) in up-front costs.
Asked about the massive taxpayer funding for the first papal visit since 1979, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said it was “very likely” the final bill would hit between €20m to €30m.
“It is important to bear in mind that the reason that money is being spent is not for Pope Francis himself, but for the 600,000 or 700,000 people who are going to attend events.
“The reason why we are spending that money is for the Irish people. It’s for their health and safety, and their security. I think that’s appropriate,” Mr Varadkar said. The Taoiseach said the costs were high because of the scale of the events, including the Phoenix Park, Knock Shrine and the expectation that large crowds would line the streets of Dublin.
Mr Varadkar said people needed to realise that “in terms of public participation this is probably the biggest event to have happened in about 40 years. That’s why the costs are so high.
“We need to make sure that health and safety applies and that we have crowd control, public order. These are costs that are being borne by the Irish people on behalf of the Irish people,” he said.
The two-day whirlwind visit by Pope Francis to Philadelphia was designated a National Special Security Event (NSSE).
The City of Philadelphia signed a contract with the WMOF estimating reimbursement costs at $12m (€10.3m) for policing, traffic and crowd control, fire and emergency medical response, emergency management, streets and sanitation during the papal visit.
However, city departments spent nearly $17m (€14.6m), which required a special ordinance hearing to approve the transfer of the large sum, as projected costs for policing and security doubled owing, in the main, to police overtime.
The City of Philadelphia, which spent $9m (€7.7m) on policing and $4.7m (€4.1m) on fire services alone, later sent a bill to the WMOF for $9m (€7.7m) after the event, seeking $3m (€2.6m) in reimbursements for police and $3.5m (€3.1m) for fire.
Delegates at the WMOF are expected to generate an estimated €3m to €4m economic impact during their stay.
The WMOF has also said that as all of the registered charities’ activities were subject to normal Vat rates, the event would generate “substantial revenue” for the State.
Earlier this month, publisher and philanthropist Norah Casey, who serves on the WMOF fundraising committee, told RTÉ radio that the Church hierarchy was underwriting the visit. “There is no question that the Pope coming to Ireland isn’t underwritten by the Church in Ireland,” said Ms Casey.