Richard Bruton
Question:15 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of General Affairs Council meetings held since he took office and the Minister, if any, who attended each meeting. [4274/98]
Written Answers - General Affairs Council.
The General Affairs Council has met five times in total since I took office as Minister for Foreign Affairs on 8 October 1997. Since taking office, I have attended two meetings of the Council, on 10 November and 8 December 1997. The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy O'Donnell, attended the Council meeting of 24 November. The General Affairs Council held an additional special meeting in Geneva on 11-12 December which was attended by trade Ministers and entirely devoted to the question of a proposed WTO agreement on financial services. Ireland was represented at that meeting by Deputy Tom Kitt, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. At the most recent meeting, on 26 January, Ireland was represented by its permanent representative to the European Union.