Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said that he is unable to give an estimate on how much the State will contribute to the visit of Pope Francis as some contracts are yet to be agreed.
He was responding to a Dáil question by Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger who asked about the costs incurred by the Office of Public Works in relation to the Pope’s August 25-26 trip to celebrate the World Meeting of Families.
Mr Donohoe said that the OPW and the Department of the Taoiseach are in “ongoing discussions regarding the visit of Pope Francis.
“Intensive planning of all the many elements of the Papal visit is continuing and evolving daily. For that reason and with further contracts yet to be agreed it is not possible to estimate accurately the cost involved,” he said.