Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1459. To ask the Minister for Health the preparations underway in her Department for Ireland to take over the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers in H2, 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10561/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union will take place during July – December 2026. My Department is pro-actively engaging with DFA and other Government Departments in the whole of Government approach to the preparations for the Irish Presidency.

Coordination

My Department is actively engaged in the Inter-Departmental Groups (IDGs) set up by DFA:

• IDG on Presidency Policy Planning, and
• IDG on Presidency Operational Planning.

• My Department has contributed to the on-going planning for the Irish Presidency calendar of events and a list of proposed health-related events is being developed.
• It is expected that most events proposed by my Department will take place in OPW-selected venues and that we will be able to leverage the procurement frameworks (catering, accommodation, transport), that DFA will be putting in place.

• During the Presidency, I will chair the two Council meetings of the Health configuration of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council – an Informal in Dublin and a formal meeting in Brussels.
• I will also be required to make an address to the European Parliament outlining the Health sector Workplan for the Irish Presidency.

• The Health Team in the Permanent Representation of Ireland in Brussels (PRB) will chair the Working Party on Public Health (WPPH), the Working Party on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices (WPPMD) and Social Questions Working Group (SQWG) as required.
• In addition, officials from the Department will also chair meetings of the Horizontal Group on Drugs (HDG) with the support of the Department of Justice, and CODEX Alimentarius Committees, such as Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA), Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (CCCF).

• the inherited work portfolio of legislative/non-legislative files which must be progressed during our Presidency,
• the Commission Work Programme, Commissioners’ Mission Letters 2024, Political Statement 2024, and the EU Strategic Agenda 2024-2029, as well as
• the non-legislative files that Ireland would like to advance during its Presidency.