Government jet’s €1m 2018 bill
Jet costs are at highest since 2014 despite the Taoiseach’s concerns about climate change
GOVERNMENT jet usage surpassed €1m in costs for the first time in four years last year, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal – with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar even using it to fly to talk about climate change at Davos.
The total bill for Mr Varadkar’s personal jet travels from the point he became Taoiseach in June 2017 up to the end of January this year is almost €535,000.
Mr Varadkar caused anger when he announced recently that he was cutting back on meat eating to help reduce carbon emissions. But his global air-miles since taking office in June 2017 are a far greater cause of CO2 emissions.
An analysis by the MoS, published today, reveals the staggering level of CO2 emissions the Taoiseach’s travels have created.
Mr Varadkar travelled to the World Economic in Switzerland – where climate change was among the subjects for discussion – last month on the private eight-seater jet, and also did so in 2018.
Since being appointed Taoiseach, Mr Varadkar has travelled on the €8m Learjet a total of 33 times, and the overall use by his Government is now greater than his predecessor Enda Kenny’s for any single year since 2014.
The total spend on the use of the jet last year hit €1,040,965 arising from 55 trips. The Taoiseach was not on all of these flights.
The spend in 2017 was €813,645, arising from 51 trips – all on the Learjet, which costs €3,780 an hour.
In 2015, the spend was €789,705 and in 2016, €605,745 was spent.
The last time the spend on jet reached seven figures was in 2014, when the bill was €1,284,374.
The value of spending does not include costs on first-class commercial flights to the United States and other distant destinations.
A Government decision to examine the future provision of the Ministerial Air Transport Service was taken in 2014. A spokesman for the Department of Defence said that when this work is complete, a report will go to Government.
Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar’s stance on carbon emissions has attracted some criticism, and he was forced to correct the record on his comments on red meat in the Dáil.
He said: ‘I did not give anybody dietary advice or suggest that anyone else do anything. I was specifically asked what I was doing on climate change and I said that I was trying to eat less red meat. I am not giving it up. Indeed, I had a very nice Hereford steak last night.’
While Mr Varadkar has targeted coal and peat specifically to reduce Ireland’s level of carbon emissions and bring them in line with EU targets, he has not yet focused in on pollution caused by aviation.
Independent Kerry deputy Danny Healy-Rae told the MoS that the Government’s policies on carbon emissions, and who it seeks to penalise, were inconsistent and unfair.
‘He can probably justify his travel, and I am not saying he shouldn’t travel, as he is representing the country, but the high fliers must take a hit as well. The Government is being very selective as to who must suffer, and the ordinary person is being hurt the most. Leo should be told to cop on.’
On eating beef, Deputy Healy-Rae said: ‘Farmers, and especially beef farmers, are at a critical juncture. They have no margins, and are not even breaking even. Cattle are €200 a head less than what they were last year. It was very unhelpful what the Taoiseach said… We are now being told we can’t eat a bit of meat, we can’t have a pint, we will perish with the cold as they don’t want us burning turf, and they want us all driving electric cars, but there are no chargers for them.
‘And there is no recognition to the amount of planes criss-crossing over us every day and the amount of fuel they burn. It is ridiculous.’
Figures from the Central Statis
A spend of €1,040,965 arising from 55 trips
tics Office show that agriculture was the sector with the largest greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland in 2016, with 32% of the total. The transport and the energy sectors each accounted for 20%.
According to the CSO, 34.4 million passengers passed through the main Irish airports in 2017.
Mr Varadkar has pledged investment in climate change in Project Ireland 2040. ‘The largest single bloc of investment is in climate action to the tune of more than €20bn in investment in infrastructure that will allow us to tackle climate change.’
He said: ‘We have confirmed that Ireland will become one of the first countries in the world to ban the use of smoky coals, for example. Moneypoint will be taken off coal in 2025 and we will be one of the first countries in Europe to come off coal as a means of generating power.
‘We will take peat out of electricity system by 2030, if not before. From next year, any new buses that are added to our bus fleet will be either low-emission or zero-emission.’
Asked for a comment, a Government spokeswoman said: ‘The Taoiseach has asked for single use plastics to be phased out across Government departments, including his own, and the wider public sector. Under Project Ireland 2040, the national development plan, one euro in every five is going on climate mitigation measures…
‘With the international uncertainty provided by Brexit and other destabilising matters, it’s more important than ever that the Irish Government and the Irish State is well represented around the world.
‘Ireland needs to be punching above its weight globally in these uncertain times… This requires a degree of travel and is the principal reason that Government representatives have been engaging in bilateral and multilateral discussions overseas.’