Parliament uses NOK 26 million on expensive committee travels

women in ParliamentThe Norwegian Parliament(Stortinget).Photo: Norway Today Media

The Politicians in the Parliament spend a total of NOK 26 million of taxpayers’ money on committee travels around the world. Several politicians now want an end to this practice.

– I do not see the need for these long and costly trips. Although parts of the program can be interesting, one does not get much benefit from the trips, parliamentary politician Stefan Heggelund tells Dagens Næringsliv.

For the current parliamentary term it has been set aside over NOK 26 million for politicians who participating in committee travels abroad. That equates an expenditure of NOK 152.000 per head, the newspaper said.

Heggelund is himself a part of the Employment and Social Affairs committee, which has travelled to Switzerland, Romania, Poland, Spain, Finland, Belgium, France and Canada.

The latter was the most expensive, and although Heggelund believes the academic program was prudent, he believes that the committee could have acquired the same knowledge without travelling.

Also Snorre Valen (SV), who is a part of the Finance committee, said that many of the overseas trips have little value. He thinks they are too expensive, too extensive and last too long, and would rather give priority to domestic travel. He wishes that the scheme to be evaluated in the next period.

Heidi Nordby Lunde (Conservatives) also wants a review of the practice.

– If you want to go on interesting and exotic vacations, you should pay for it yourself. We have good wages in Parliament, Lunde says to Dagens Næringsliv.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today