Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he is satisfied that the new EU Foreign Policy Chief and External Action Service will respect the neutral status of our nation and afford Ireland equal input into common foreign policy in view of the fact that we have already been excluded from a meeting of the Baroness with a number of foreign ministers that took place in Finland over the weekend of the 13th and 14th March 2010. [13295/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have previously welcomed the appointment of Catherine Ashton as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Vice President of the European Commission. HR Ashton is already working closely with European Union Foreign Ministers to ensure that the Union plays an active and influential role on the world stage. It is important that we put in place a capable External Action Service to support the High Representative in this work, as envisaged in the Lisbon Treaty.

At the recent meeting of EU Foreign Ministers hosted by the Spanish Presidency in Cordoba, I made the point that recruitment to the new service should be open, transparent and on merit, while having regard to geographic and gender balance. The discussions on setting up this ambitious new service are ongoing and Ireland is fully engaged in this process. There was also a suggestion at the Cordoba meeting that given the busy and varied agenda, there would be benefit from smaller informal gatherings of Ministers in terms of helping to deepen dialogue on a particular issue.

In this regard, I welcome the initiative of my colleague Alexander Stubb, Foreign Minister of Finland, whom I met at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, to invite a small number of EU colleagues, HR Ashton and the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to an informal meeting in Lapland recently. There is no question of Ireland being excluded from EU meetings. Nor is there any threat to Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality, as was made clear in the decision adopted by the European Council in June of last year.

The reality is that following the endorsement of the Lisbon Treaty by the Irish people, we are again at the heart of Europe, working hand in hand with our EU colleagues on issues including the Middle East Peace Process, Afghanistan and Haiti.