Details of Northern Ireland MPs’ Business or First class air travel expense claims

IPSA holds the information you requested.

Under the Scheme of MPs’ Business Costs and Expenses (‘the Scheme’), the costs of travel made in support of the MP’s parliamentary functions can be reimbursed. Where MPs have caring responsibilities, they may claim for journeys by their dependants between their constituency and London. MPs’ dependants must be registered with IPSA before travel can be claimed for them. For journeys by public transport, MPs may buy a ticket of any class but reimbursement will be limited to the rate of an economy class ticket available at the time of booking. In the case of air travel, ‘economy’ includes ‘flexible economy’.

In relation to the specific information that you have requested, we can confirm that for the 2018/19 financial year:

• 53 Business/Club class tickets were claimed as expenses by Northern Ireland MPs, for flights between Northern Ireland and London;

• The total cost of those tickets is £14,513.70.

No expenses were claimed for first class tickets.

This concludes our response to your request.