Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

To the best of my knowledge, and subject to correction, the staff complement referred to by the Deputy is four. The Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, has an adviser, but the number of constituency staff is four and the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, has the same number. While the EU constitution work is not proceeding at the same level, there still is a reflection period, and Deputy Treacy is co-ordinating that. Apart from that, he has the entire workload of the everyday co-ordination of all of the committees in Europe. These comprise the feedback through various Departments and Deputy Treacy chairs the interdepartmental co-ordinating group that deals with these matters. He also stands in at a number of meetings and in particular acts as a delegate at various functions for the Minister for Foreign Affairs. A considerable amount of his time, therefore, is spent in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

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