Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 297: To ask the Minister for Health the preparations he has undertaken for the Irish Presidency of the EU Council in January 2013; the amount of money spent on EU Council Presidency related activities to date in 2012; the estimated expenditure up to December 2012; the budget for the six month Presidency specifically; the additional staff he has undertaken; the number of re-assigned staff he has undertaken; the estimated future staff requirements for the Presidency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8844/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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My Department is currently preparing its Programme for the Irish Presidency of the EU Council from January to June 2013. As you will appreciate, discussions are ongoing with the European Commission on its programme, including legislative proposals in the fields of public health, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, narcotics and foodstuffs, which Ireland will be expected to progress during its Presidency.

To date most activity, and therefore expenditure, has related to my Department's ongoing commitments at EU level which includes attendance at various working groups. It is inevitable that engagement will increase in the coming months with an increase in the number of meetings to be held with various stakeholders (European Parliament, Commission, other Member States, etc.) and increased attendance at meetings for officials who will be engaged in Presidency work. Given that the Programme is still under consideration, the budget and staffing requirements for the Presidency are not yet finalised.

For my part I have, over the past months, worked to build relationships with relevant stakeholders in advance of Ireland's Presidency. This included meeting with Commissioner John Dalli and the Director General of SANCO Paola Testori Coggi, key members of the European Parliament's ENVI Committee in Brussels, and fellow Health Ministers from the Netherlands, Denmark, UK and Malta. I will continue to engage with the Commission, the European Parliament, and with other Health Ministers (including Ireland's Trio partners Lithuania and Greece) in the coming months to prepare for Ireland's Presidency.