Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

With regard to the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, the work of Europe goes on. Much of it is carried out in the Department of Foreign Affairs, where the Minister of State stands in for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and attends meetings on European initiatives. In my Department the Minister of State chairs the meetings of the interdepartmental co-ordinating committee on EU affairs, which comprises senior officials from all Departments. A group is charged with ensuring there is a co-ordinated approach to negotiations on key policy issues arising at the European level. As many issues arise, it is a way of pulling them together and co-ordinating the work so that each Department prepares and plans accordingly. The Minister of State reports on development issues arising from the group to the Cabinet committee on EU affairs but it is his responsibility to co-ordinate the effort.

The interdepartmental committee works to co-ordinate the position on key policy issues and to ensure that this goes back to the Government and its various Departments. The committee is focused on an ongoing effort on the timely transposition of European measures and is also briefed on the key working groups in the EU, from which information comes back on an ongoing basis. The interdepartmental committee deals with that level of work, which would not normally come to the Cabinet committee. The EU co-ordinator of every Department and officials at different levels sit on that co-ordinating committee.

The e-democracy proposal of the Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, gives the public the opportunity to make their views known to the committee of the House via the Internet. It is hoped to begin work on that with the broadcasting Bill at the beginning of the next Dáil session.

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