Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 236: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of Council of the European Union meetings he was entitled to attend in the past three years; the number of Council meetings he attended; the number of same that were attended by officials in his place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19127/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Council of the European Union is a key decision-making institution of the EU, at whose meetings all EU Member States are represented. As Minister for Foreign Affairs, and in my earlier Ministerial portfolios, I have represented Ireland frequently at Council meetings. Between May 2007 and November 2009 there were twenty-seven meetings of the General Affairs and External Relations Council. Following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty there have been six meetings of the General Affairs Council and six meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council. Since May 2007 there have also been seven informal meetings of Foreign Ministers, the so-called "Gymnich" meetings. All of these are meetings which Foreign Ministers would normally attend.

Since becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs in May 2008 I attended eleven meetings of the General Affairs and External Relations Council, four meetings of the General Affairs Council, four meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council and four "Gymnich" meetings. My predecessor as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern T.D., attended eight meetings of the General Affairs and External Relations Council between May 2007 and May 2008 and two "Gymnich" meetings. On the occasions when I was unable to attend these meetings, Ireland has normally been represented by a Ministerial colleague of mine, almost always the Minister for State for European Affairs, Dick Roche TD. On three occasions over the last three years it was not possible for any Minister to attend one of these meetings. On each of these three occasions Ireland was represented by the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the European Union.

In addition to Council meetings, it was the practice up until the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009 for Foreign Ministers to attend European Council meetings. Between May 2007 and May 2008 my predecessor as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern T.D., attended three of these. Between May 2008 and November 2009 I attended seven European Council meetings.