On Air A Little Light Music Maurice Powell | 9:00pm - 10:00pm

£134,000 spent on overseas Tynwald travel

Five year figure given in written answer

Foreign business trips by Tynwald members cost the Manx taxpayer £134,000 over the past five years. 

The figure was given in written reply to a Tynwald question from Malew and Santon MHK Graham Cregeen this week.

Expenditure is broken down by member, the places they visited outside the British Isles and overall cost to the public purse.

Rushen MHK and Infrastructure minister Phil Gawne and MLC Alex Downie, who was in office for three of the five years in question, racked up the highest travel bills, at approximately £16,000 apiece.

The bill for Howard Quayle's travel in his capacity as health minister was £6,700 in the last financial year - that included a trip to New Zealand to observe the Canterbury model, which is now being considered as a structure for healthcare here.

The Home Affairs minister and Rushen MHK Juan Watterson travelled to 10 countries on official business - including the Falkland Islands as Honorary Commander in the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme.

The Chief Minister's costs on travel to China, Brussels and Dublin came to just over £6000 in the last five years.

More from Isle of Man News