Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 16, inclusive, together.

During the remainder of 2010 I intend to travel to meetings of the European Council in Brussels on 28 and 29 October, and 16 and 17 December; and to the British-Irish Council Summit in the Isle of Man on 13 December. I hope to visit China early in 2011, subject to the timing being settled by the Department of Foreign Affairs, in consultation with the Chinese authorities.

I had extensive contact with other EU leaders at the meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 16 September and at the EU/ASEM summit on 4 and 5 October. In addition, I met the Prime Minister Mr. Cameron in Downing Street on 23 June, and the Prime Minister of Finland, Ms Kiviniemi here in Dublin on 7 October.

I was accompanied at the European Council meeting on 16 September by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Mícheal Martin, and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dick Roche. The meeting focused on maximising the benefits of the EU's strategic partnerships with other countries. The Council acknowledged that Europe faces a great many challenges at present, many of which demand a coordinated external response. In this, we need to make full use of the potential of the new arrangements under the Lisbon treaty. Particular focus was given to upcoming summits with key partners, especially those with China and India, and the Council agreed to return to the subject of our transatlantic relationship at its next meeting. The Council also had an early discussion on our approach to the G20 meeting that will take place in November.

The President of the European Council, Hermann Van Rompuy, briefed the Council on progress being made by the Task Force on Economic Governance, which he is chairing. The Council welcomed the considerable work that has been undertaken to date, including agreement on the so-called European semester. The Council also adopted Declarations on Pakistan and the Middle East Peace Process.

The eighth Asia-Europe meeting, ASEM 8, which took place in Brussels on 4 and 5 October, dealt with a wide range of issues of interest to both regions under the overall themes of global financial and economic governance, sustainable development, international co-operation on global and regional issues and the future of ASEM. I addressed the conference on the issue of disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, recalling Ireland's strong association with the non-proliferation treaty, NPT, and calling for a renewed effort to ensure its full implementation.

In advance of the summit, I participated in a business forum in Brussels organised by Enterprise Ireland which focused on IT for health care, one of Ireland's fastest growing export sectors. I also took part in a breakfast meeting with the Asia-Europe Business Forum organised as part of the summit.

The summit provided an opportunity to meet on the margins with a number of Heads of Government of participating countries, including Premier Wen Jiaboa of China, Prime Minister Gillard of Australia, Prime Minister Bouasone of Laos and President Zapatero of Spain. I met Prime Minister Kiviniemi of Finland in Government Buildings on 7 October, It was her first visit to Dublin since she took office in June of this year. Our discussions focused on Ireland and Finland's shared interest in innovation as an engine for growth and jobs as well as economic and EU matters. Later that afternoon, the Prime Minister and I addressed a seminar at Dublin Castle on combining Irish and Finnish strengths in innovation.

I expect to see the President of the European Commission at the next meeting of the European Council on 28 and 29 October. The main items on the agenda on that occasion are economic policy, including consideration of the final report of the task force on economic governance, preparations for the G20 summit in November, preparations for the Cancun conference on climate change and relations with the US ahead of the EU-US summit.

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