Vol. 563 No. 4
219 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Finance the meetings held by him or departmental staff with individuals, firms or groups, the subject of which related to the Finance Bill 2003; the dates of such meetings; the names of the individuals, firms or groups with whom such meetings took place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7699/03]
The Deputy will be aware that the Finance Bill is a substantial piece of legislation with measures relevant to all areas of taxation. Given the broad spectrum of issues which are encompassed generally in each Finance Bill, officials of my Department and I meet with a very large number of individuals and representatives of a variety of organisations over a number of months, both prior to the budget and between the budget and the Finance Bill.
Information on these meetings is recorded in relation to the different subjects covered and so is contained in a range of different files and records.
In the circumstances, I regret that I am unable to answer the Deputy's question because of the disproportionate amount of staff time it would take to retrieve the information necessary to answer the question adequately.
