Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 546: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the EU Council of Ministers on which he sits; the number of meetings of that Council that have been held between 2007 and 2011; the number of those meetings that he attended; the number that were attended by the relevant Minister of State; the number that were attended by an Irish official; and if he will provide the names of those who attended in tabular form. [5464/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I attend the EU Council of Ministers (Agriculture and Fisheries). Between 2007 and the end of 2011, there were 54 formal meetings of the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers and 11 informal meetings. Ireland was represented at the majority of these meetings at Ministerial level either by the sitting Minister and/or, when fisheries items dominated the agenda, by the Minister of State with responsibility for Fisheries. The table below sets out the position in relation to the head of delegation.