Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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178. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his final estimate of the cost of Ireland’s Presidency of the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29679/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The planning, implementation and management of Ireland’s EU presidency has been a major project involving all Government Departments and Offices over a period of approximately two years.In making preparations for the Presidency, there has been a consistent emphasis on delivering a cost-effective programme to a high standard. The budget agreed by Government in December 2011 was in the order of €60 million, with security costs being assessed separately. This is at the lower end of the range of costs incurred by other Member States for recent Presidencies and is considerably less than the budget for Ireland’s last Presidency in 2004. The final cost of the 2013 Presidency will not be fully known until costs incurred during June have been met.

However, on the basis of information available at this point, including from other Departments, I anticipate that the final costs will be well within the original budget. A full report on the Presidency is being prepared and will include detailed information on costs.