Tom Enright
Question:59 Mr. Enright asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on the initiatives undertaken by the Communicating Europe Task Force over the past 12 months. [16911/00]
Written Answers. - European Task Force.
Initiatives undertaken in 1999 by the Communicating Europe Task Force, against expenditure of £100,036, included support for the research and development of a CD-ROM on the structures and functions of the European Union for distribution to secondary schools; support for information programmes undertaken by the European Parliament office in Dublin and the European movement related to the European elections; support for Europe Week, a weekly news feed on EU issues provided to Irish local radio stations; and support for training courses on EU issues organised by the European movement, and by the Irish Countrywomen's Association.
The task force has a budget of £113,000 for 2000. At its meeting on 27 January 2000, a strategy was agreed for the year's work. Raising the profile of European issues in the current affairs arena was the key goal. Projects supported by the task force should reach a mass audience, and the material or outcome should be readily understood by an audience with little familiarity with European matters. Projects should have some element of added value, should have a measurable impact, and should be relatively modest in scale. Initiatives approved and in hand so far in 2000 include: support for the CD-ROM project for schools; support for Europe Week; and support for the Eurolink provincial newspaper columns on EU issues.