Since the commencement of Ireland's EU Presidency, I have already had bilateral meetings in Dublin Castle with the EU Commissioners with responsibility for rural affairs and regional policy. I am also addressing the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in the European Parliament today.
As regards my Department's plans, as I informed the House in 2003 in response to similar questions from Deputies, my Department's activities in respect of Ireland's EU Presidency are as follows: conference on territorial cohesion, formerly islands, Galway, 25 to 27 May 2004; conference on rural development, Westport, 30 and 31 May and 1 June 2004; and meeting of national drugs strategy co-ordinators, Clontarf, 15 June 2004.