Published Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Black was sentenced to a minimum 25-year jail term in December 2011 for the murder of the nine-year-old, who went missing from her home in Ballinderry in 1981.
It has now emerged the 64-year-old predatory paedophile received "Rolls-Royce treatment" as he was transported from England.
Stormont Justice Minister David Ford told DUP peer Lord Maurice Morrow that £5,675 had been paid for a private plane to jet the Scot from his prison in Britain by London's Ministry to NI on a one-way trip.
Lord Morrow said: "I am utterly appalled at the overt expenditure in this case.
I am demanding a full explanation for the sanctioning of such Rolls-Royce treatment
Lord Morrow, DUP
"It is simply outside the realms of reasoning to have the taxpayer shell out this amount of money."
Prisoners are normally transferred to the region by plane or boat.
Lord Morrow added that the legal aid bill for the case is £350,000 and is set to climb further when counsel submit their full accounts.
He said: "The legal aid fund and the defence of criminals should not be used as an open cheque-book under the guise of human rights legislation.
"I am satisfied Robert Black's rights would have been adequately served under the usual precedents and by routine prisoner transfer."
Former delivery driver Black, who has been convicted of killing four young girls and is being investigated over a fifth disappearance, is serving 12 life sentences.
He was found guilty in 1994 of three child murders in the 1980s - those of 11-year-old Susan Maxwell, from the Scottish Borders, five-year-old Caroline Hogg, from Edinburgh, and Sarah Harper, 10, from Morley, near Leeds.
His reign of terror ended in 1990 when he was caught red-handed with a six-year-old in his van in the Scottish village of Stow.
In a statement from the Ministry of Justice said it does not comment on individual cases.
It added: "We have long-standing arrangements in place for transferring prisoners for judicial purposes and public protection is always our priority."