Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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492. To ask the Minister for Finance if a date has been finalised for the Informal Ecofin meeting during Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58908/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The date of the informal meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) is being considered as part of the development of the high-level calendar that will span the full six months of Ireland's EU Presidency in the second half of 2026.

As has been set out previously by the Tánaiste, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is coordinating across Government on the high-level calendar to identify dates for meetings of the European Political Community, European Council, formal and informal Council meetings and meetings of high-level Council preparatory bodies. In keeping with convention, a draft version of the high-level calendar will be circulated to Member States and to the EU institutions several months in advance of the start of the Presidency, which begins on 1 July next year.

Officials in my Department are working closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Taoiseach on the preparations for the informal ECOFIN and the wider EU Presidency.

The full official calendar, which will include all meetings and events forming part of the official programme for Ireland’s EU Presidency, will be published in June 2026 with the launch of Ireland’s EU Presidency website.