The Taoiseach’s office spent €97 on novelty St Patrick’s Day dog collars as part of an array of “protocol gift stock” last year, it has been revealed.
It also spent €317 on floral arrangements for a virtual meeting with Joe Biden and €300 for the online presentation of a crystal Shamrock bowl to the US president.
According to records released under Freedom Of Information, a sum of €1,300 was spent on gifts by the Taoiseach’s office, with a special edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses purchased for €300.
A total of €97 was paid to Swaggles Dog Collars for shamrock bow ties and green shamrock dog collars, while €57 was spent on special linen facemasks, also for St Patrick’s Day.
Other items purchased included a €117 Woodland Bog Oak fountain pen for US Vice President Kamala Harris and €381 for an assortment of pens for the “protocol gift stock”.
A breakdown of more than €400,000 in spending on travel, accommodation, training, PR, and photographs also details a €48,000 spend on hotels abroad.
This included more than €13,300 spent during a five-night stay at Fitzpatrick’s Hotel in New York for the Taoiseach and a seven-strong delegation for the UN General Assembly.
The individual bills for each room were €1,507 with a further €1,010 added on for “breakfast charges”, according to a database of spending.
There was another €5,300 bill for the Sofitel Hotel in Brussels for a two-night stay last June for a European Council meeting, which included a €622 cancellation fee for accommodation that was not needed.
The overseas car hire bill was more than €22,000 with the largest single invoice for €6,036 for “ground transportation” for the Taoiseach and his staff during the UN General Assembly in New York last September.
Another €3,400 was paid out in car transport costs for the European Council meeting that took place between June 24 and June 25 last year.
The department ran up a €1,366 bill for flower arrangements, including €317.80 for the “St Patrick’s Day virtual meeting between [the] Taoiseach and President Biden” in March 2021 at Government Buildings.
Another €476 was paid out for flowers for when French President Emmanuel Macron visited Ireland during August of last year.
Just under €21,000 was spent on catering for official functions including a spend of €6,793 for refreshments, canapes, tea, and coffee, for the National Day of Commemoration.
A sum of €2,155 was paid out for a “working lunch” between the Taoiseach and President Macron, including €850 for food and €1,305 for staff to serve it.
There were bills of €743, €578, and €575 for main courses for Government lunches at Dublin Castle between April and August last year.
The department also paid out €847 in pest control costs as it contends with wildlife in Dublin’s city centre including the notorious fox that had broken into Government Buildings. There were also €27,397 in what were described as “ex-gratia payments” with no further details, with the department saying it was personal information.
The department paid out almost €13,000 for conferences and seminars, and a further €47,784 for training courses for its staff.
An interdepartmental exercise on “Brexit preparedness” cost €4,800 while €2,380 was spent on training nine staff in how to manage protected disclosures.
The department also paid out €1,845 for a mobile video storytelling course for some of its communications staff and €1,250 for a “plain English” course. Photography costs came to €43,737 for a range of events while a sum of €39,825 was spent on public relations, all relating to the IBRC Commission of Inquiry.
Two sopranos were hired with Rachel Croash paid €1,000 to perform at the National Day of Commemoration and Claudia Boyle paid €2,000 for the Easter Sunday Commemoration Ceremony at the GPO last April.
Other bills from 2021 at the department included €43,853 spent on airfares, €34,943 in domestic mileage costs and almost €12,000 for taxis.
A carbon emission offset for the Taoiseach and staff who travelled abroad last year came to €818.
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