Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 63: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the meetings he has had or is proposing to have with Ministers with similar responsibilities in the Northern Ireland Assembly or the English, Scottish or British Parliaments; if such meetings have taken place; the matters discussed and the progress that has been made; if meetings are arranged; the agenda for the proposed meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19016/10]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has a number of North/South co-operation areas under its remit and these – and indeed East/West co-operation under the auspices of the British-Irish Council - continue to be a strategic priority, particularly in the context of the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements.

Principally, my areas of responsibility in this regard include the two North/South Implementation Bodies within my Department's remit - Waterways Ireland and An Foras Teanga (comprising Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency/Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch). I am scheduled to participate in the forthcoming meetings of the North/South Ministerial Council in both the Waterways and Language Sectoral formats on 26 May 2010 with my Northern counterpart, Mr Nelson McCausland MLA, Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, and an accompanying Minister, to progress relevant issues in relation to these Bodies. Prior to that, I hope to have an informal meeting with Minister McCausland in the coming week. This will be my first opportunity following my appointment to meet with Minister McCausland to discuss issues arising from our two Departments' joint responsibilities in this area.

As Minister with responsibility for Rural Development, I will also attend meetings of the North/South Ministerial Council in the Agriculture Sector. The next meeting, and my first, is envisaged for the autumn. An agenda will not be finalised until closer to the date.

Other relevant areas of co-operation include participation in the British-Irish Council. Responsibility for chairing and organising the sectoral group on the Misuse of Drugs rests with Ireland, through my own Department. The group has, on average, 3-4 meetings of senior officials and one Ministerial meeting annually. The most recent Ministerial meeting of the Group was hosted on 24 February 2010 by the Isle of Man. The meeting, which focused on issues related to addressing substance misuse in prisons, was chaired by my colleague, Mr John Curran, T.D., then Minister of State with responsibility for the Drugs Strategy. The issue of new psychoactive substances (so-called "legal highs") was also discussed at the meeting. Ministers agreed to meet again in spring 2011, with an agenda to be decided towards the end of 2010.

My Department also participates in the Indigenous, Minority and Lesser-Used Languages Working Group. This Group has looked at issues such as language transmission in the family, adult immersion, information and communications technology, language and physical planning, and language legislation. This sharing of experience has been of very real and practical benefit to us. A date for the next Ministerial meeting has not yet been fixed.

Finally, I might also mention that my predecessor, Mr Éamon Ó Cuív, T.D., accompanied the Taoiseach to the British/Irish Council Summit in Cardiff on 19-20 February 2009. At that meeting it was agreed to develop a joint document on the contribution of the Third Sector to Social Inclusion. The joint document on the subject was approved at a Ministerial meeting in Edinburgh on 25/26 March 2010, attended by Ireland at official level, and it was agreed that the subject merited further discussion and consultation among British/Irish Council members.