FLIGHT UPGRADE ON BRAZIL TRIP AND A €1,155 MEAL

THE recently retired chief executive of the Kildare and Wicklow Education Training Board, Seán Ashe, clocked up €15,000 in credit-card bills in just one year. Mr Ashe was one of two Irish officials who attended the World Skills Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2015.

Flights, accommodation and meals for the nine-day conference were paid for by the organisers of the event.

But Mr Ashe still managed to spend a large amount of taxpayers’ money.

On top of his €302 subsistence expenses, he also used the training board credit card to pay for a flight upgrade, costing €196 and a group meal costing €1,155.

Mr Ashe justified the meal costs by saying it took place during a six-hour period when they had checked out of their hotels and were awaiting airport transportation.

He said that the training

board and Kildare VEC normally gave a sponsorship sum of approximately €1,500.

Mr Ashe decided to pay for meal for the group, he said, as it was easier to meet collectively at the location, and it was less than the sponsorship sum that was normally paid.

He said it was cheaper to meet the World Skills officials in Brazil rather than in Ireland.