Explain or refund! Longford MEP questions cost of UAE rescue flights for Irish citizens

A Longford MEP has questioned why Irish citizens stranded in the UAE were each charged up to €800 for state-organised rescue flights home, when Ireland could expect 100% of the cost to be repaid in relation to the charter flights.

Speaking in Brussels today, Ciarán Mullooly called on the Irish government to either refund the people involved or else release a cost breakdown to explain the price. 

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MEP Mullooly said he was, “concerned that in some of the flights which Ireland had effectively chartered, the government chose to charge people on board €800 each, despite the fact that the mechanism clearly indicates that where no other flight capacity is available in Europe, Ireland could expect 100% of the funding to be repaid in relation to the charter flights.” 

He said, "I understand that reasonable costs could be charged against passengers but with the full cost of the flights being charged, being paid by the European Commission, I fail to see how a cost of up to €800 can be justified for those on board.” 

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Mr Mullooly added that in these circumstances he was, “calling for the Irish government to either give people a breakdown of how the €800 charge was built up, refund the money or most of it back to the people involved, who also have paid huge additional costs in hotels and transfer fees before they got home.”

The MEP said while he was a fan of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism - a system in which EU countries support each other during emergencies - he now wanted “to see it act much quicker and see the Irish government act at a much earlier stage in the weeks and months to come.”

He added, “Undoubtedly there will be further crisis but what I've said to the European Commission today is that if member states are unwilling to trigger the mechanism earlier then there must be an onus on the Commission itself to take action at an earlier stage in the interest of protecting lives.”

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