Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

They keep me up to date, whatever about the advice.

There is a formal working session on Mondays, depending on what issues are pertinent. European and Northern Ireland issues could necessitate more frequent meetings. With European business in particular, a key person is put in place from the country holding the EU Presidency who passes information on several times a week. This is increasingly being done by telephone contact, which is more efficient.

The German Chancellor has been doing a very good job where all her meetings are being fed back into the system almost on a daily basis. It is quite a challenge for the personnel involved because they have to ring 27 countries with updates. Many of these issues are current and the European agenda is getting more complex and demanding.

A unified position being created takes up more and more time, and unfortunately it is different to our system. Some prime ministers may not attend parliament as much as here and they involve themselves extensively in European issues. Therefore, more time is spent here phoning around, but it nevertheless it is an important part of the work.

See this speech in context