TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen again defended retaining the Government jet. He had been asked if Minister for the Environment John Gormley was speaking for the Government when he said that Ministers could make substantial savings by travelling on commercial flights.

Mr Cowen said yesterday that Ministers used scheduled flights where appropriate. “In addition, use is made of the ministerial air transport service when it is the only way for a Minister to get to meetings and carry out his or her ministerial functions.

“It offers the type of flexibility that scheduled flights cannot provide. It is not tied to set routes or timetables. The jet can also use military as well as civil airports and it can lead to significant savings in travel time.”

Mr Cowen said that when considering applications for the use of the jet, regard was had to the availability of schedule flights, as well as the differences in financial costs and levels of emissions.

“A balance has to be struck. Even though sometimes there may be significant cost differentials, other factors such as the level of flexibility available, the purpose of the travel, destination, route, timings and passenger details warrant use of a Government jet as opposed to alternative scheduled flights,” he added.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he understood that the Gulfstream jet cost €7,100 an hour. He recognised, he said, the value of having a jet for the prime minister of a country and the busier departments.

Mr Kenny said that Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea had gone on a failed mission to Austin, Texas, to talk to Michael Dell, prior to the Dell announcement, at a cost of €164,000.

He added that an economy American Airlines flight leaving Dublin today and returning in two days would cost €1,000 for the two Ministers.

“However, since they are Ministers, it would cost €9,000 if they travelled business class to Dallas,” Mr Kenny added.

“An internal flight to Austin would be very reasonable.” He suggested that there would have been substantial savings if both Ministers “flew comfortably in business class to Texas”.

Mr Cowen said that there was a requirement to meet with the managing director of Dell very quickly regarding impending decisions and it was the right thing to do in the circumstances.

“I am informed by the Department of Defence that, in keeping with normal practice in the aviation business, it is not possible to assign an exact cost to any particular mission,” said Mr Cowen.

“However, on the basis of an approximation to actual costs, the average direct cost of €4,000 per hour would be a more reasonable measures.”

He said there were costs that arose when the aircraft was being flown, including maintenance, fuel and support services.

“One is at times required to meet a number of people from one stage to another and the jet is used for that purpose,” Mr Cowen added.

“Scheduled flights could not be used in situations where, for example, one is going to Luxembourg and Berlin before continuing on to London.”