Deportation staff's €422k flights bill for business class

THE Department of Justice spent more than €1.8m on deportation flights over a four-year period including €422,000 on business class seats for escort officers.

- BY KEN FOXE

The department said expenditure was sometimes necessary for executive seats when a deportation officer was immediately returning to Ireland from a long-haul flight without staying at the destination.

Records show that spending on deportation flights last year amounted to €1.09m, of which around €262,000 covered business class travel.