The chair of a Stormont scrutiny committee has queried the “justification” of the DUP deputy first minister’s taxpayer-funded trip to Wimbledon.
Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw said she wanted to urgently establish “the benefit to the public” of funding Emma Little-Pengelly’s attendance at the ladies singles’ Centre Court clash between Emma Raducanu and defending champion Marketa Vondrousova earlier this month.
Ms Little-Pengelly, whose deputy first minister’s salary is £125,000, was accompanied by her husband and Education Authority boss Richard Pengelly, with the couple watching from the Royal Box.
The deputy first minister was invited to the sporting event by the chair of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
The cost to the public purse, which included flights and accommodation, was £980. It is understood Mr Pengelly covered the cost of his own flight.
Also among the costs recorded by the Stormont department for the trip were £96 for “airport services”, £152 on transport and £12.50 for booking costs.
Ms Little-Pengelly described being invited to the Royal Box as the “honour of a lifetime”, while her husband faced criticism at the time, as the Wimbledon trip was taken in the midst of an unfolding crisis over a lack of school places for dozens of children with special educational needs.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill was also invited to Wimbledon but instead attended the all-Ireland semi final which took place that weekend.
Ms Bradshaw told The Irish News there needed to be “a justification for spending of this nature”.
Executive Office committee chair Paula Bradshaw
“As a committee scrutinising the Executive Office’s work, we will want to know how such spending was in line with established departmental policy and how any such policy was developed,” she said.
“We have also noted that the expenditure appears to have covered both the deputy first Minister and her husband, who also holds a prominent post linked to a different department.”
The South Belfast representative said in an era of constrained budgets, the committee would be seeking to establish “how such expenditure was deemed to be of interest to the public who ultimately paid for it”.
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston described the deputy first minister’s trip as a “jolly.”
“Of course the deputy first minister is quite entitled to accept the hospitality of the All England Club, but to leave the public purse to pick up the near £1,000 cost, when she is already handsomely paid via the taxpayer, is a bit much,” he said.
“When you break the cost of the trip down – with taxpayers even having to cover a £96 charge for ‘airport services’ – whatever they were? – and the £12.50 for booking costs, the story is even more outrageous.”
The North Antrim representative questioned the “benefit” of the trip to Northern Ireland.
The Executive Office has been approached for comment.