Helen Keogh
Question:16 Ms Keogh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of trips overseas that he has made on Government business.
Written Answers. - Official Visits Abroad.
Bernard Allen
Question:32 Mr. Allen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of visits he has made abroad since taking up office; the destination, date and duration of these visits; the purpose of these visits; the number of officials and others who accompanied him; the airline used on each visit; and the overall cost of each visit.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 32 together. Since my appointment as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs I have made 18 official trips overseas.
The number of official commitments fulfilled in the course of these visits is, of course, much higher. In the course of my visit to New York to address the General Assembly of the United Nations last week, for example, I had meetings with UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, EC Foreign Ministers, Russian Foreign Minister Kosyrev and the Foreign Ministers of the Gulf region as well as 16 meetings with other Foreign Ministers and representatives of organisations such as the PLO. I also undertook a programme of meetings with potential investors on behalf of the IDA and I had a series of meetings with representatives of Irish Community organisations and immigrant assistance groups.
I have made 11 overseas journeys in the context of our membership of the European Communities, attending eight meetings of the General Affairs Council, two Informal Ministerial meetings and one European Council.
I have fulfilled four overseas commitments in connection with Anglo-Irish Affairs including two meetings of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in London and two meetings of the British Irish Association.
I have accompained President Robinson on visits to Spain, the United States and New Zealand.
I have made official visits to Poland, to Hungary and to Germany.
I have fulfilled three commitments in the framework of the United Nations. I had a meeting with the UN Secretary General in New York in May, I attended the UN World Conference on Human Rights in June and I have already referred to my attendance at the UN General Assembly in New York last week.
I have instructed that every effort be made to keep the frequency and cost of visits to a minimum consistent with the appropriate discharge of my responsibilities as Minister for Foreign Affairs. Where commercial flights are used preference is always given where possible to Aer Lingus or to other Irish based carriers.
Accounting practices do not provide for a full breakdown in relation to the cost of individual visits. I am sure that the Deputy will be pleased to know that on my appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs, I accepted a reduction in the allocation for ministerial travel of approximately 12 per cent. Figures which are available to date indicate that, in the period from my appointment in January to the end of August some 22 per cent of that reduced allocation was accounted for. This represents a sizeable saving in the figure budgeted for the same period.
I am asking the Ceann Comhairle to circulate in the Official Report a tabular statement setting out all available details requested by the Deputy.
|
Date |
Destination |
Purpose |
No. Accompanying |
Transport |
|
31/1/1993- 1/2/1993 |
Brussels |
General Affairs Council |
6 |
Air Corps |
|
2/2/1993- 3/2/1993 |
London |
Anglo-Irish Conference |
8 |
Air Corps |
|
28/2/1993- 2/3/1993 |
Poland/Hungary |
Official Visit |
6 |
Air Corps |
|
7/3/1993- 8/3/1993 |
Brussels |
General Affairs Council |
7 |
Air Corps |
|
3/4/1993- 4/4/1993 |
Luxembourg |
General Affairs Council |
6 |
Air Corps |
|
16/4/1993-17/4/1993 |
Oxford |
British Irish Ass./Enctr. |
1 |
Aer Lingus |
|
24/4/1993-25/4/1993 |
Denmark |
Informal EC Ministerial |
5 |
Air Corps |
|
4/5/1993- 7/5/1993 |
Spain |
State Visit to Spain |
3 |
Air Corps |
|
9/5/1993-10/5/1993 |
Brussels |
General Affairs Council |
2 |
Air Corps |
|
12/5/1993-16/5/1993 |
USA |
President's Visit/UN Meetings |
5 |
British Airways Commercial |
|
7/6/1993- 9/6/1993 |
Luxembourg |
General Affairs Council |
7 |
Air Corps |
|
13/6/1993-15/6/1993 |
Vienna |
World Conf. on Human Rights |
5 |
Air Corps |
|
21/6/1993-22/6/1993 |
Copenhagen |
European Council |
5 |
Air Corps |
|
23/6/1993-24/6/1993 |
Bonn |
Official Visit |
6 |
Air Corps |
|
1/7/1993- 3/7/1993 |
Brussels |
General Affairs Council |
3 |
Air Corps |
|
18/7/1993-20/7/1993 |
Brussels |
General Affairs Council |
5 |
Aer Lingus |
|
4/10/1993 |
Luxembourg |
General Affairs Council |
4 |
Air Corps |
|
10/9/1993- 2/10/1993 |
London |
Anglo-Irish Conference |
6 |
Air Corps/British |
|
Cambridge |
British Irish Assoc. |
6 |
Airways/Air New |
|
|
Belgium |
Informal Ministerial |
3 |
Zealand/Delta |
|
|
New Zealand |
State Visit |
2 |
Airlines/TWA |
|
|
Boston |
Immigration Issues |
2 |
||
|
New York |
UN General Assembly/Immigration Issues/Investment Promotion |
8 |