Vol. 576 No. 5
72 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the interdepartmental structures in place to ensure that Irish trade policy decisions take into account other policy objectives held by other Departments, particularly international development aid and agricultural policy. [29641/03]
148 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the interdepartmental structures in place to ensure that Irish trade policy decisions take into account other policy objectives held by other Departments, particularly international development aid and agricultural policy. [29974/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 148 together.
The officials in my Department who deal with multilateral trade policy maintain close contacts with their counterparts in other Departments which have a responsibility for, or an interest in, particular aspects of trade policy. Consultation documents are circulated to all Departments with an interest for their information and observations. There are regular informal meetings involving Departments which have major inputs on specific issues. When observations are provided from other Departments, they are taken into account in the formulation of the overall Irish position and reflected in the submissions to the EU through the Article 133 committee.
