After critics once again took aim at her travel expenses Tuesday, Premier Alison Redford admitted some of her travel costs should not have been covered by taxpayers.

On Tuesday afternoon, Redford said that after her staff conducted a review of her travel logs – and she would pay back what ended up being about $3,200 in travel expenses.

Redford said she was paying back travel costs related to five trips where her daughter, Sarah, brought her friend with them while travelling on government-owned planes.

“There are times where I have to do business that takes me away from home, and I bring [my daughter] Sarah with me,” Redford said. “On a few occasions, when I know that my schedule will be demanding, I have encouraged Sarah to bring along a friend so that she has company.

“Upon reflection, taxpayers should not have to pay any of the costs that are associated with my daughter’s friend’s travel.”

In addition, Redford said some of the repaid expenses came from another trip in March 2013, where Redford travelled to Vancouver.

She said she did government business while there, but also attended her uncle’s funeral.

During question period Tuesday, Redford was repeatedly questioned by members of the opposition over the thousands of taxpayer dollars she had spent travelling, including questions over the $45,000 cost for a trip to South Africa.

Since news of the cost for the trip was released, Redford had apologized, but has also insisted the cost was for government business and she would not be paying the money back.

“She arranged herself in a way that was forty-five times more expensive than what it should be to go to South Africa,” Wildrose Finance Critic Rob Anderson said.

In Tuesday’s announcement, Redford also said she had called on the Auditor General to look into the government’s use of their aircraft to travel outside of the province.

“I’ve written to Alberta’s Auditor General…I’ve asked him to review our use of government aircraft, specifically the use of planes out of province, to ensure the public can have full confidence in the use of our planes,” Redford said.

“I’m unclear about why she’s taking this step,” NDP Leader Brian Mason said. “I do not think that this needs to be referred to the Auditor General.

“If we had a premier that knew what was going on, and was in control and was giving clear direction to her staff we would not need an officer of the legislature to study the matter.”

Until the report is completed, Redford said government planes had been grounded for out-of-province travel. Redford also said she had asked Finance Minister Doug Horner to send out tenders to have providers for hotels, airlines and rental cars within the next 90 days.

With files from Serena Mah