Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 380: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the EU Council of Ministers on which she sits; the number of meetings of that Council that have been held between 2007 and 2011; the number of those meetings she attended; the number that were attended by the relevant Minister of State; the number that were attended by an Irish official; and if she will provide the names of those who attended in tabular form. [5473/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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During the period in question there were a total of twenty nine meetings of the Council for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs. It is the practice for the Employment and Social Affairs items to be taken on one day of this two day meeting, and Health and Consumer Affairs to be taken separately on the other. In relation to the former, the subject matter covers topics which span the interests of a number of Irish government departments – Social Protection; Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation; Education and Skills and Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Representation at the Council is decided on the basis of the items to be discussed, and it is often the case that Ministerial attendance from this Department is not considered necessary.

During this period the Minister (that is, myself or my predecessors as Minister for Social Protection) along with Department Officials, attended seven meetings of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council. A further ten meetings were attended by at least one Department Official. I did not attend the meeting in December 2011 due to the Budget. Minister of State, Deputy Cannon (Education and Skills) led the Irish delegation where the Regulations on co-ordination of social security were on the agenda.

The remaining meetings were not attended by the Minister for Social Protection, and no officials from the Department travelled to these meetings. However, Ministers or Ministers of State from the other Departments concerned may have attended, and officials from the Permanent Representation (including the attaché from the Department of Social Protection) would have attended these meetings.