Mary Harney + Superbowl 2008= 190,000euro!!

skelliser

ONE year ago, as the symptoms of the Celtic Tiger's terminal illness became unmistakable, Health Minister Mary Harney, along with her husband and five officials, made a six-day visit to the United States devoted to "fact-finding" on dental matters and cancer.

Not entirely devoted to fact-finding, it would turn out. She also watched the New York Giants, the underdogs, winning the Super Bowl.

Ms Harney is said to have little interest in sport, but that is beside the point. People in her position attend football matches for the sake of business and contacts. Did she transact any business, or make any contacts, at the Super Bowl and elsewhere? Let us hope so. The trip cost €187,909, including €163,000 (at €7,100 per hour) for the government jet.

The reference to dental care is intriguing. Anyone who wants to study it might find it more rewarding to travel to Newry, or Strabane, or Budapest than to the United States. Rewarding, certainly, in one important respect.

Treatment in those places costs a great deal less than in the Irish Republic, where patients tremble and grow pale when the dentists present them with their bills.

Not to put a tooth in it, this trip was a prime example of the Government's boomtime extravagance and its contempt for the public and parliament -- during the trip, Ms Harney missed a Dail debate on the health service.

Perhaps it will mend its ways now that the Tiger's teeth have fallen out.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/editorial/supercharge-for-super-bowl-1650000.html

Hande hoche!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055495585