Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 22 Jan 1997

Vol. 473 No. 4

Written Answers. - Ministerial Travel.

Ivor Callely

Question:

79 Mr. Callely asked the Taoiseach the number of foreign trips made by him during 1996; the destination, purpose and duration of the trips; whether the Government jet or scheduled flights were used; the identity and designation of persons who accompanied him on each trip; the number, purpose and duration of each meeting attended by him on such trips; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25216/96]

The Taoiseach

The information requested by the Deputy is outlined in the following schedule. It is not possible to give the precise duration of meetings which I attended on my foreign visits as these details have not been officially recorded. In general, bilateral meetings can last anything from 30 minutes to two hours. Major summits such as the European Council meetings involve a series of meetings which take place over a number of days.

Schedule to PQ No. 25216/96

Taoiseach's use of transport for foreign flights in 1996

Date	Destination	Purpose	Travelling Party (Taoiseach's Department)	Transport	Meetings
10-11 January	Paris	Funeral of President Mitterand	Taoiseach	Commercial flight	Funeral
			Mrs. Bruton
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.		Lunch hosted by President of France
			C. Haughey, Former
			Taoiseach
			G. FitzGerald, former Taoiseach
			Capt. McQuillan, Aide de Camp to the Taoiseach Security
16-18 January	Rome	Official visit to the Vatican	TaoiseachMrs. Bruton	Commercial flight	1. Meeting with President of Italy.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.		2. Meeting with Prime Minister of Italy.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press
			Secretary		3. Meeting with President of Italian Senate.
			D. McCarthy, Asst.
			Secretary*		4. Visit to the Church of San Clemente and Irish College.
			Capt. McQuillan, Aide de Camp to the Taoiseach
					5. Dinner for Friends of Ireland and business people.
					6. Audience with the Pope.
					7. Meeting with the Secretary of State of the Vatican.
24-26 January	Strasbourg	Address to Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe	TaoiseachS. Kenny, Govt. Press Secretary	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Meeting with Secretary General and signature of the Convention on the Exercise of Children's Rights.
			A. Dunning, P.O.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.
			Security		2. Meeting with President of the Assembly.
					3. Address to Parliamentary Assembly.
					4. Meeting with Vice-Presidents of Assembly, Political Leaders and Heads of delegation not represented in the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly.
					5. Lunch hosted by President of Assembly
					6. Reception.
					7. Dinner with Irish Parliamentary Delegation to the Assembly.
28 February	London	Anglo-Irish Summit	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air Transport	Anglo-Irish Summit meeting
			P. Teahon, Secretary
			S. Donlon, Programme Manager
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press
			Secretary
28 February-4 March	Bangkok and Dubai	ASEM Summit	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air Transport and Commercial flight	1. ASEM Meeting.
			F. Murray, Secretary to the Government		2. Meeting with President of Indonesia.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press Secretary		3. Meeting with President of South Korea.
			A Dunning, P.O. R. Dooney, Special		4. Meeting with Prime Minister of Malaysia.
			Adviser to the Taoiseach G. Shaw, P/Sec.		5. Meeting with Prime Minister of Singapore.
			C. Carey, Clerical
			Assistant
			Security
12-13 March	Cairo	Summit of Peacemakers	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air Transport	Summit of Peacemakers
			S. Hare, P.O.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press
			Secretary
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.
			Capt. McQuillan, Aide-de-Camp to the Taoiseach
			Security
14-18 March	USA and Canada	Official visit for St. Patrick's Day	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Meeting and reception with President Clinton.
			Mrs. Bruton
			P. Teahon, Secretary		2. Lunch meeting with Speaker Gingrich.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press
			Secretary		3. Meeting with Senator Edward Kennedy.
			R. Dooney, Special
			Adviser to the Taoiseach		4. Meeting of the Ireland-America Economic Advisory Board.
			D. Morgan, P.O.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.
			Security		5. American Ireland Fund dinner.
					6. Meeting with the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Honourable Brian Tobin.
28-29 March	Turin	European Council meeting	TaoiseachMinister Mitchell, MoS for European Affairs.	Ministerial Air Transport	Meeting of European Council
			Mrs. Bruton
			B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press
			Secretary
			A. Dunning, P.O.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.
			O. Duffy, Clerical
			Assistant
			Security
24-26 April	Poland	Official visit	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Meeting with Prime Minister of Poland.
			Mrs. Bruton
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press Secretary		2. Reception for Polish VIP's.
			A. Dunning, P.O. G. Shaw, P/Sec.		3. Lecture at Natolin College of Europe.
			Security		4. Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture.
					5. Dinner hosted by Prime Minister of Poland.
					6. Meeting with Deputy Speaker of Polish Sejm.
					7. Meeting with Marshall of Polish Senate.
					8. Meeting with Chairman of Polish-Irish Parliamentary Association.
					9. Meeting with President of Poland.
4-5 June	Bonn	Meeting with Chancellor Kohl	TaoiseachF. Murray, Secretary to the Government	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Meeting with Chancellor Kohl.
					2. Address to Adenauer Institute.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press
			Secretary R. Dooney, Special Adviser to the Taoiseach		3. Dinner for German businesspeople.
			A. Dunning, P.O.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.
			Capt. McQuillan
11-12 June	Brussels	Meetings with various European Heads of State and Governments and others	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Lunch for Local business community.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press Secretary
			R. Dooney, Special		2. Meeting with President of the European Commission.
			Adviser to the TaoiseachE. O'Leary, AP G. Shaw, P/Sec.		3. Meeting with Prime Minister of Spain.
			Security		4. Meeting with President of European Parliament.
					5. Meeting with Prime Minister of Italy.
					6. Multilateral meetings in EPP context, with Heads of State and Governments of Germany, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and the President of the European Commission.
20-23 June	Florence	European Council	TaoiseachMinister Mitchell, MoS for European AffairsF. Murray, Secretary to the Government	Ministerial Air Transport & Commercial flight	European Council.
			Mrs. Bruton
			B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press
			Secretary
			A. Dunning, P.O.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.
			D. Johnstone, Personal Assistant to the Taoiseach
			Security
			C. Carey, Clerical Assistant
23-25 June	Malta	Official visit	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air	1. Meeting with Prime Minister of Malta.
			Mrs. Bruton	Transport
			B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec. S. Kenny, Govt. Press Secretary		2. Meeting and lunch with President of Malta and Mrs. Bonnici.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec. D. Johnstone, Personal Assistant to the Taoiseach		3. Talk at Valletta Chamber of Commerce. 4. Meeting with Irish Community.
			Security		5. Dinner hosted by Prime Minister of Malta.
10-11 July	Luxembourg and Paris	Meetings with various European Heads of State and Governments and others Meeting with Jacques Chirac	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Multilateral meetings, in EPP context, with Heads of State and Governments of Germany, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and the President of the European Commission. 2. Meeting with President of France.
			Mrs. Bruton
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press Secretary
			R. Dooney, Special Adviser to the Taoiseach
			B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec. Security
8-13 September	Washington	Address to US Congress	Taoiseach Mrs. Bruton	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Meeting with President of USA.
			P. Teahon, Secretary S. Kenny, Govt. Press		2. Meeting with Congressional Leaders.
			Secretary A. Dunning, P.O.		3. Address to US Congress.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec. K. Gilna, Personal		4. Meeting with US journalists.
			Assistant to the Taoiseach Security		5. Meeting with Friends of Ireland/Ad Hoc Committee
17-18 September	Strasbourg	Address to European Parliament	Taoiseach Minister Mitchell, MoS for European Affairs	Ministerial Air Transport	1. EPP Meeting. 2. Meeting with Irish MEPs.
			B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec. S. Kenny, Govt. Press		3. Address to European Parliament.
			Secretary R. Dooney, Special Adviser to the Taoiseach		4. Lunch with President Santer and President Hänsch.
			E. O'Leary, AP
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.
			B. Murphy, Personal Assistant to MoS Mitchell
			C. Macey, Special Adviser to MoS Mitchell Security
26 September-1 October	Paris and Japan	EU-Japan Summit	Taoiseach F. Murray, Secretary to the Government S. Kenny, Govt. Press Secretary	Ministerial Air Transport to Paris and Commercial flight to Japan	1. Meeting with Head of Mission of European Commission to Japan. 2. Reception for Japanese business people.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec. Capt. McQuillan, Aide-de-Camp to the Taoiseach		3. Reception for Irish Community. 4. Bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Japan.
					5. Audience with Emperor of Japan.
					6. EU-Japan Meeting with Prime Minister of Japan.
					7. Debriefing of EU Ambassadors on outcome of Summit.
14-16 November	Athens and Rome	Pre-Dublin II tour of Capitals (Athens) and attendance at World Food Summit in Rome	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air	1. Meeting with Prime
			Mrs. Bruton	Transport	Minister of Greece.
			B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec.		2. Meeting with
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press		President of Greece.
			Secretary		3. World Food Summit Assembly.
			D. Ingoldsby, Asst.
			Private Secretary		4. Meeting with Prime Minister of China.
			B. Boylan, AP (Acting)
			Security		5. Meeting with Prime Minister of South Korea.
					6. Meeting with Prime Minister of Rwanda.
					7. Meeting with Prime Minister of Malta.
					8. Meeting with Vice-President of Iran.
					9. Meeting with Vice-President of Argentina.
					10. Meeting with Executive Director of World Food Programme.
21-22 November	Helsinki and Vienna	Pre-Dublin II tour of Capitals	Taoiseach B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec.	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Meeting with Prime Minister of Finland.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press Secretary		2. Meeting with President of Finland.
			A. Dunning, P.O. G. Shaw, P/Sec.		3. Meeting with Chancellor of Austria.
			Security
24-27 November	Lisbon, Madrid, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Luxembourg and Rome	Pre-Dublin II tour of Capitals	Taoiseach B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec. N. Reddy, Press Officer A. Dunning, P.O. G. Shaw, P/Sec. Security	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Meeting with Prime Minister of Portugal. 2. Meeting with Prime Minister of Spain. 3. Meeting with Prime Minister of Sweden.
					4. Meeting with Prime Minister of Denmark.
					5. Meeting with Prime Minister of Luxembourg.
					6. Meeting with Prime Minister of Italy.
1-3 December	Lisbon	OSCE Conference	TaoiseachMinister Mitchell, MoS for European Affairs S. Kenny, Govt. Press SecretaryG. Shaw, P/Sec. E. O'Leary A.P.Security	Ministerial Air Transport	1. OSCE Summit Meeting. 2. Meeting with President of Ukraine. 3. Meeting with Prime Ministers of Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
					4. Meeting with Prime Minister of Canada.
					5. Meeting with President of Belarus.
					6. Meeting with 8 Portuguese MEPs.
5-6 December	Brussels and Bonn	Pre-Dublin II tour of Capitals	Taoiseach B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec.	Ministerial Air Transport	1. Meeting with President Santer.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press Secretary		2. Meeting with Prime Minister of Belgium.
			R. Dooney, Special Adviser to the Taoiseach		3. EPP Council and Summit meetings.
			E. O'Leary A.P. G. Shaw, P/Sec.		4. Meeting with Chancellor of Germany.
			Security
9-10 December	London and	Pre-Dublin II	Taoiseach	Ministerial Air	1. Meeting with Prime
	Paris	tour of Capitals	Mrs. Bruton	Transport	Minister of Britain.
			P. Teahon, Secretary B. McCarthy, Asst. Sec.		2. Meeting with President of France.
			W. Kirwan, Asst. Sec.
			S. Kenny, Govt. Press
			Secretary
			A. Dunning, P.O.
			G. Shaw, P/Sec.
			Security
15-18 December	Washington D.C. and Ottawa	EU-US Summit and EU-Canada Summit	Taoiseach Mr. F. Murray, Secretary to the Government Mr. S. Kenny, Govt.	Ministerial Air Transport *Commercial Flight	1. Meeting with Journalists. 2. EU-US Meeting with President of USA.
			Press Secretary G. Shaw, P/Sec.		3. Bilateral meeting with President of USA.
			Security *Mr. A. Dunning, P.O.		4. EU-Canada Summit with Prime Minister of Canada.