Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 to 25, inclusive, together.

I made an official visit to China and Hong Kong from 18 to 22 January at the invitation of the authorities there. The overall purpose of the visit was to further enhance Ireland's strong economic and trade links with China. I was accompanied on the trip by my colleagues, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Minister for Health and Children, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, and in Hong Kong by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.

The political element of the visit covered a number of important meetings. I met with President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa of Hong Kong and Chairman Wu of the National People's Congress. My discussions with the Chinese leadership focused on bilateral and trade relations, EU-China relations and political issues, including human rights and the proposed lifting of the arms embargo by the European Union.

I also had meetings with Mayor Han Zheng of Shanghai and Vice Mayor Tang of Shanghai where the proposed twinning of Cork with Shanghai and the hosting by Shanghai of the 2007 Special Olympics were discussed.

On this visit, I led the biggest trade delegation ever to leave Ireland. It comprised more than 200 people representing over 120 companies in a wide variety of business and academic sectors. This element of the visit was co-ordinated by Enterprise Ireland. The visit allowed for meetings between the Ministers accompanying me and their Chinese counterparts in bilateral sessions and at round table meetings. I spoke at three key business breakfasts organised by Enterprise Ireland. During the visit, I attended a number of tourism, agriculture, food and drink, education and Shannon Development events.

China is the world's fifth largest economy and it is essential that Ireland makes its presence firmly felt there. The visit was designed to drive forward our economic, trade, agriculture, education and tourism interests through dedicated commercial and trade events and signings with Chinese partners. I am pleased that contracts worth €125.8 million were signed by Irish businesses and colleges in the course of the mission. Significant investment to the tune of €46.5 million was made in China by Irish companies during the visit. The importance of the Chinese economy to Ireland is reflected in the Government's Asia strategy, a new phase of which is currently being prepared. My visit afforded political outreach and awareness-raising through keynote speeches at the prestigious Tsinghua and Fudan universities.

The importance of tourism, including cultural tourism, was addressed throughout the visit. The Irish traditional music group, Dervish, and a group of dancers performed at cultural events in Beijing and Shanghai. The Hong Kong leg of my journey coincided with a visit by the GAA All-Stars. I took the opportunity to watch them play and to meet the teams afterwards.

While in Hong Kong, I also had a short bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin. We discussed bilateral relations, Canadian support for the Northern Ireland peace process and UN reform.

I will travel to Bulgaria and Poland on 11 and 12 February for bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Prime Minister Belka. In addition to my traditional visit to North America for St. Patrick's Day, and my attendance at the European Council meetings in Brussels in March and June, I also propose to visit Spain and Germany. Dates for these meetings are still under discussion.

The Luxembourg Presidency has not yet issued an agenda for the Spring European Council. This is unlikely to issue before mid-February. The Spring European Council will focus on Europe's economic and social reform agenda, known as the Lisbon Agenda. The Lisbon Agenda is subject this year to a mid-term review of progress. The Government's priority is to ensure that strong political focus is maintained on progressing with the series of reforms set out in March 2000 at the Lisbon European Council, so as to ensure that Europe meets its economic and competitiveness goals. Our focus has been on prioritising initiatives and reforms in the area of growth and employment.

As an independent body, it is a matter for the National Forum on Europe to decide the role it intends to play in regard to stimulating debate on the proposed European constitution. The National Forum on Europe has played a valuable role in facilitating open and independent debate on the work of the Intergovernmental Conference that led to the formulation of the text of the proposed European constitution and I am confident this work will continue. However, I do not wish to get drawn into any debate on how the forum will conduct its business in the coming months. As I have said, the forum is an independent body and it is a matter for it to decide how best to continue to facilitate debate on matters of importance on the European agenda.

I sent a message of congratulations to President Bush on his inauguration and I expect to meet with him in Washington for St. Patrick's Day. The programme for my visit has yet to be finalised. However, I expect to participate in the traditional ceremonies at the White House and on Capitol Hill and to meet with the Ireland-America Economic Advisory Board in the course of my visit.

See this speech in context