Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy said, no date has yet been set for another forum. An advisory committee was established following the 2011 forum which meets regularly with me and discusses the way in which the forum's work should be carried forward. That group is considering what form another forum might take. It might not necessarily take the same form as the previous forums. The practice up to now has been to convene the forum every two years, so I suppose, logically, it would not be due until 2015. It is not anticipated that there will be a forum this year.

The network meets in various regional settings, generally in conjunction with high level visits. The Taoiseach meets with network members during visits as do I. Some of those meetings are obviously in conjunction with St. Patrick's Day events but they are also organised in conjunction with key business events and investment attraction events. Sometimes they are tailor made. I recall, for example, meetings with network members who work in the financial services sector in New York which has been very helpful in restoring confidence to our financial sector.

See this speech in context