Ireland’s Defence Forces’ bill for the visits of Queen Elizabeth and President Barack Obama came to €1.7 million, according to Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Justice, Equality and Defence Dara Calleary.
The figures were released to Dep Calleary by Minister Alan Shatter who outlined that it cost €1.1 million to deploy the Defence Forces for Queen Elizabeth’s visit last week, while the Defence Forces’ involvement in President’s Obama’s visit cost €600,000.
“In cooperation with the Gardaí, the Defence Forces played a key role in the complex security operations required for these historic visits,” Dep Calleary said. “Both visits involved a great deal of planning and intelligence gathering, as well as extensive security and ceremonial duties throughout events of last week.
“The members of the Defence Forces carried out their duties in an extremely thorough and honourable fashion. Along with the Gardaí, they contributed enormously to ensuring that these events were a positive experience for all. The State funding spent on their involvement represents good value for money in my view, and I wish to pay tribute to them for their hard work and professionalism.”
