Vol. 491 No. 6
26 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the discussions, if any, she has held with the Department of Finance since the failure to secure an EU study on the impact of the abolition of duty free at the ECOFIN meeting on 19 May 1998; the Government's strategy for the retention of duty free; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12843/98]
68 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the position regarding efforts to have duty free facilities retained; her assessment of the likelihood of success; the new initiatives, if any, she is planning in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12745/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 26 and 68 together.
As Deputies are aware from the recent media coverage and my comprehensive response to a parliamentary question on 2 April 1998, following my success in having duty free sales placed on the agenda of the Transport Council of 17 March last, Ireland received a strong level of support at the Council. As a result of this support, the President of the Transport Council sent a formal letter to the ECOFIN highlighting the concerns of the Transport Council and requesting that urgent action be taken in the matter.
My colleague, the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, raised the issue at ECOFIN last week. He succeeded in bringing the French, German and Spanish Finance Ministers on side for the first time. This is an important step forward and the message I wish to give is that the fight is not over yet.
The House may be interested to learn that French Prime Minister, Mr. Jospin, has recently charged Mr. Andre Capet, transport Deputy of the Calais region, with the task of examining the implications of the scheduled abolition of duty free sales for France. I am happy to add that I will be meeting with Mr. Capet on 24 June next to discuss the issue. I firmly believe the campaign will gain more momentum as we approach the countdown to June 1999 and neither myself nor the Minister, Deputy McCreevy, will be found wanting in our efforts to pursue the case at every possible opportunity, particularly in our endeavours to convince the larger member states to take up the running.
