The Dealer was shocked when the European Commission unveiled expenses reports for its commissioners over the first two months of last year.

European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan ranks eighth of 28, with €17,549 claimed in travel costs over the period. Some amounts are truly shocking. For a three-day visit to Dublin and Portlaoise in January 2016, Big Phil received only €54.80 – barely enough to bring a Belgian beer bottle to each of the cousins he undoubtedly stayed with along the route.

Worse still, the following week, the Commissioner took in Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece, as well as Budapest in Hungary, raking in only €85.60. He must have booked these flights on Ryanair at least three years in advance.

More than half of Hogan’s expenses for the two-month period were in fact absorbed by a weeklong trade mission to Colombia and Mexico, costing just over €8,900.

If he keeps this up, the reputation of Irish politicians for milking the expenses cash cow will be in tatters.