asked the Minister for Finance the number of meetings of EEC Finance Ministers that have taken place since he took office; the number of such meetings that were attended by him personally; and the reasons for his non-attendance at the remaining meetings.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - EEC Finance Ministers.
125.
The European Community's Finance Ministers have met on 14 occasions since I took office as Minister for Finance. I attended ten of these meetings but pressure of official business at home made it impossible for me to attend the others.
May I ask the Minister if in that 14 meetings to which he has referred he has included all of the EEC Finance Ministers meetings, not only those of the Ministers meeting as a Council of the EEC?
The Deputy is referring to the informal meetings?
Yes.
Yes, I have.
All of them are included in the 14?
Yes.
The Minister says he attended ten and did not attend four?
That is correct, yes. Incidentally, this was about average for Ministers for Finance.
Could I ask the Minister if at some of the meetings which he did not attend there were some very important questions at issue for this country, for instance, in connection with the budget of the EEC?
Wherever the interests of this country required the personal attendance of the Minister I was there so far as my official duties permitted me to be there. When I was not there I was represented by the secretary of the Department of Finance and the governor of the Central Bank was also present as was the permanent representative of Ireland to the Community who is authorised to cast the Minister's vote in the absence of the Minister.
While I am aware the position would be as the Minister has indicated, is it not a fact that in circumstances where arguments and political weight on behalf of this country's interests were required, none of the gentlemen he has mentioned, estimable as they may be, was in a position to exercise that argument or political weight?
No, such people were in a position to exercise their argument and political weight and until such time as mortals are given bilocation it will not be possible for Ministers in any country to discharge their necessary obligations in two different places at the same time.
Is the Minister aware of a rumour that he stayed away from certain of those meetings because he would have found it rather embarrassing to have been subjected to justifying certain policies he was pursuing at home?
That is totally untrue and if Deputies would take the trouble to read the EEC reports and recommendations they would find that they are in line with the Government's conduct of affairs.