Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As stated, the situation in Mali will be discussed at the special meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council tomorrow.

Unfortunately, as I am attending the meeting in Belfast I will not be able to be in Brussels but the Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, will represent me at tomorrow's meeting of foreign ministers. There will be a full discussion on the action that has been taken. We will have an opportunity to hear from our French colleagues about what they have been doing in co-operation with others. There will be a discussion about putting together a European Union training mission. As far as aid is concerned, we have been contributing to the situation in Mali and we remain committed to doing so. Over the past year we have provided €9 million in emergency assistance to the region and €1.35 million specifically for Mali.

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