Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 May 2014
67. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Finance in what capacity he attended a Bilderberg Meeting in Chantilly, Virginia, USA, in 2012; the reason for his attendance; the cost of the trip and a list of those who accompanied him; if the visit was sanctioned by the Cabinet; the questions raised, and where an account of the meeting may be found. [21992/14]
View answerAs I have outlined in previous Parliamentary Questions, I attended the Bilderberg meeting in Westfield Marriot, Chantilly, Virginia, USA, from 1 to 3 June 2012. I, like a number of my European colleagues (both Ministers and EU Commissioners), was invited to attend given my position as Minister for Finance. I travelled alone and the total cost associated with my travel and accommodation came to €4,000. As standard procedure Cabinet approval is not required for Ministerial travel plans. For further information, I would point the Deputy to the Bilderberg Meetings website (www.bilderbergmeetings.org), which includes information on the organisation's governance, steering committee, meetings and associated press releases. At this meeting and its workshops I took the opportunity to set out to my fellow attendees the opportunities that exist in Ireland for investors and multinational companies. I also outlined the significant progress Ireland is making in restoring stability and growth to the economy.
The Government is focused on encouraging as much investment as possible into Ireland. In 2013, IDA reported the creation of 13,367 new jobs by client companies during that year. 2014 has seen a continuation of the strong flow of FDI projects, with a number of significant announcements to date and a strong project pipeline for the coming months. I would point out to the Deputy that a number of the business attendees represented companies which have very significant investments in Ireland that support thousands of Irish jobs.
