Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for his reply and I am sure he works very hard. The cost of these trade missions should be kept to a minimum but I must question why no official from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade accompanied the Minister. As he said in a response to an earlier question, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is central to trade promotion. Is this a form of branding exercise? How many civil servants have been transferred from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Minister's Department to deal with trade? Has the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade any significant input into such trade missions or is this work still firmly in the grasp of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation?

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