As part of the estimates process each year, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, I would normally have a formal bilateral meeting with the Minister for Finance to discuss the Department's needs for the year ahead.
The dates of these meetings, in respect of each year of my predecessor's term as Minister for Foreign Affairs, are set out below. The bilateral meetings in previous years were, I understand, held around the same time, 31 October 2007; 20 September 2006; 20 October 2005; 22 October 2004.
The normal pattern at these meetings is that I would be accompanied by the Minister of State responsible for the Irish Aid programme, the Secretary General of the Department, the head of the Department's Corporate Services Division and one or two senior officials dealing with the Irish Aid programme.
This bilateral meeting would normally be preceded by consultations at official level with the Department of Finance. In addition, as part of the preparation for the bilateral meeting, I would expect to hold internal meetings with officials from the Department. It is not the normal practice to take minutes of these meetings, though there is no instruction to that effect.
In addition, as the Deputy will be aware, the preparation of the budget is a matter which is discussed at Cabinet, in advance of the publication of the Estimates.