Irish Embassy credit cards were used to pay congestion charge fines in London, for the purchase of £2,100 (€2,470) worth of handmade chocolates, to pay an Airbnb bill for a Paris apartment of €3,800, and for tens of thousands of euro in hotel costs. Copies of card statements from some of Ireland’s most high-profile embassies detail how congestion charge penalties of £80 were paid on two separate occasions at the embassy in London. Ireland’s UK embassy also splashed out more than £2,100 on handmade chocolate from the Kerry-based artisan producer Dingle Chocolates, with a further £827 spent with the same supplier on a later date. There were also regular Nespresso bills ranging from £76 to £166 to keep the Embassy coffee machine stocked up for “senior level meetings”. The embassy in London also incurred a £3,500 bill at the five-star Taj Hotel in central London, although a credit of £1,755 was later applied to their account from the hotel. Also on the credit card statements were £192 for Ardsallagh goats cheese and £353 to the Oxenford Farm, which provides Christmas trees. (https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/other/irish-embassy-credit-cards-were-used-to-pay-e2-82-ac3800-for-paris-airbnb-and-e2-82-ac2470-on-chocolate/ar-AA10TkGp) There were extensive bills of more than £9,000 from the Hilton Hotel in March this year to coincide with St Patrick’s Day celebrations. Other items purchased regularly through the embassy card included a monthly Spotify subscription, regular congestion charge payments for London’s streets, and a magazine subscription for The Spectator.