DUBLIN, Ireland - Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has defended his government's big spending to send ministers worldwide for St. Patrick's Day, a policy decried by opposition chiefs as a self-indulgent waste.

Ahern told lawmakers that Ireland enjoys a rich payback from its St. Pat's globe-trotting, chiefly because it boosts tourism and foreign investment in the Emerald Isle.

He was speaking days before he and 13 other Cabinet ministers fly worldwide for events tied to St. Patrick's Day — and hours after Irish broadcasters RTE revealed the cost of last year's holiday jet-setting.

RTE said the government spent more than to travel for St. Patrick's events in 2007, including $5,070 for one minister to stay in a Roman apartment for two nights. The total excludes the cost of operating Ahern's government jet.