Honohan stops spousal travel allowance

The new governor of the Central Bank Patrick Honohan has said that spouse travel will no longer be paid for by the bank.

In a statement, Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan said: 'Over the period 2007 to 2009 I am informed that the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland (CBFSAI) paid for the travel of accompanying spouses to business meetings on 71 occasions.

'The total cost of this was €67,450. Of these trips 62 were within Europe with an average cost of €435.

'The other 9 trips were long haul in business class and accordingly dearer

'I was not aware that the organisation had been covering the cost of so many spouse trips. While some of this expenditure could perhaps have been justifiable in the past, the practice does not seem appropriate in present circumstances.

'Accordingly I have decided that spouse travel will no longer be paid for'.

The Central Bank has been accused of spending taxpayers' money in a cavalier fashion by Fine Gael Finance Spokesman Richard Bruton.

His comments come after it emerged the Central Bank was the State agency highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General for bringing 52 employee spouses on foreign trips.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, Mr Bruton called on the Central Bank to provide more information on the trips, and said the public would be understandably angry.

The Central Bank said it paid for 52 spouses of staff to go on foreign travel over a two-year period.

In a statement the Central Bank said the spouses attended 49 individual meetings and not one, as was previously reported by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

John Buckley recently said that 52 spouses of an unnamed State agency went on one trip, which was paid for by that agency.

He has since clarified the situation stating that the spouses had attended several international meetings, not just one single event.

After RTÉ contacted all of the organisations, the Central Bank confirmed it was the body in question.

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Bernard Allen said he will be writing to the Governor of the Central Bank to seek information on why the trips were taken, by whom, and how much it cost.