The explanation by the department of Arts, Sport and Tourism about the €100,000 expenses run up by John O’Donoghue just doesn’t wash with me. They said “every effort is made to secure the best possible rates” for Ministers and their delegations. €900 a night hotels are the best possible rates? €9,616 for car hire? This just sickens me.

My father retired not that long ago and had to jump through hoops to get the state pension. His finances were picked through and examined microscopically before the state begrudgingly gave him what was rightfully his. He worked like a trojan since the age of 17. He NEVER sought or received a pennys worth of state assistance for anything his whole life. And then I read about John O’Donoghue and his lavish expenses over a 2 year period and it makes me mad.

The usual arguments trotted out are that government ministers are representing the country and they need to be seen in a certain light when visiting other countries. Rubbish to that I say. I simply don’t accept that a €900 a night hotel stay is acceptable under any circumstances – not on public money.

The most telling example of how little thought these officials give to spending our money is the €80 in tips “forked out to the Indians for moving the luggage around airports, hotels etc”. I worked for years in a large US multinational and did quite a bit of travelling in that time. If I had come back to my boss and tried to submit an expense form for tips for carrying my cases I’d have been hauled before HR and given a dressing down – and rightly so.

Spending like that would never have happened anyway. In a private company with a hardcore profit driven culture, wasteful spending wasn’t tolerated. We shouldn’t tolerate it either, but it’s hard to see how to change the mindset of department officials who don’t live in the real world. A profit driven mindset can only come about when job security is dependent on performance.