Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 52: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of Council of Ministers meetings attended by Ministers at his Department for each of the past three years in tabular form; the number of decisions made by the Council at those meetings; the number of occasions on which those decisions were decided upon by a vote; the number of occasions on which Ireland voted against a decision which was adopted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19045/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Finance attended 25 Council of Economics and Finance Ministers (ECOFIN) meetings between May 2005 and May 2008. The Minister of State at the Department of Finance attended four Council of Economics and Finance Ministers (Ecofin Budget Council) meetings during the same period. In excess of two hundred and fifty decisions were taken by Ecofin during the period in question (Details by year in table).

The EU operates in a manner which encourages and facilitates the search for agreement between the member states. While the treaties provide that the principal method of reaching Council decisions is by Qualified Majority Voting (QMV), recourse to voting is very rare because agreement is normally achieved through negotiation and the search for compromise.

Within the Union, whenever a Member State takes a very strong view against a draft proposal, it is normally amended to facilitate agreement and in cases where unanimity applies a Member State can prevent the proposal from proceeding. Our consistent national approach at EU level is to articulate our concerns, to seek support from partners and the EU institutions, and to advance our national interests through the process of negotiation.