Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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497. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will list, in tabular form, the representations received by him, his Department and his Department’s Ministers of State on any negotiations on the European Union-United States of America Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or negotiations by any other name on the same subject; if he will provide a full list of the persons and organisations from whom these representations came; the number of meetings he, his ministerial colleagues or Department officials have had with interested parties regarding the agreement; with whom they were held and the date on which they took place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22465/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The issue of the negotiations on a possible trade agreement between the EU and the US comes up as a very regular item for discussion at meetings that I, my Ministers of State and my Department officials have with the farming organisations, the representative bodies for the agri-food sector, Oireachtas members, Members of the European Parliament, the EU Commission and other Member States. Few if any of these meetings are dedicated to TTIP alone.

I have discussed a possible trade agreement, among many other topics, in meetings with US Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsack and other US Government officials over the past four years; most recently during Secretary Vilsack’s visit to Ireland in June last year, and my trade mission to the US in February this year.

As to representations, this year representations regarding the negotiations have been received from the IFA, Slow Food Ireland and a number of private citizens.