Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 145: To ask the Minister for Finance the EU Councils of Ministers on which he sits; the number of meetings of that Council held between 2007 and 2011; the number of those meetings he attended; the number attended by the relevant Minister of State; the number attended by an Irish official; and if he will provide the names of those who attended in tabular form. [5468/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) usually meets monthly, although it can meet more frequently, if required. Formal Ecofin meetings are held in Brussels or Luxembourg; informal Ecofin meetings are convened in the country holding the six-monthly Presidency (usually April and October). Separately to the Ecofin meetings, Eurogroup meetings usually take place on the evening beforehand. In many cases when the Minister could not attend an Ecofin meeting, he would have attended the Eurogroup meeting that preceded it. 61 meetings of the Ecofin Council have been held between 2007 and 2011. Since my appointment as Minister for Finance, eleven meetings of Ecofin took place in 2011 and I attended ten of these meetings. Mr Brian Hayes TD, Minister of State at the Department of Finance attended a meeting of Ecofin on 14 June 2011, as I was abroad on official business in the US.

The following tables set out the dates of all Ecofin Council meetings convened between 2007 and 2011, and details of who attended each of these meetings.