Seanad debates
Thursday, 6 November 2003
European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage.
I was struck by the enthusiasm of those civil servants for the project and their willingness to learn more. They were amazed by the forum for Europe concept and sad that they did not have more time to spend at it on the day in question. As the Minister of State said in his presentation, these were young civil servants who would return to their countries of origin imbued with knowledge about European affairs which had an Irish dimension. They will undoubtedly move up the ladder and, ultimately, aspire to or even achieve Secretary General status at which point they will have a direct input into policy matters. The Government should be applauded in that regard. I hope it continues on the trade side to provide for this type of interaction.
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