Ivan Yates
Ceist:156 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the reason he left the December Council of Agriculture Ministers' meeting to return to Ireland.
Written Answers. - Council of Agriculture Ministers' Meeting.
At the request of the Taoiseach, I temporarily returned to Dublin on 16 December for consultations with him in regard to matters of acute national importance, including matters affecting the future development of the agriculture industry. During my short absence, the policy position I had defined for Ireland's interests at the Council was conveyed by the Secretary of my Department, who acted in my place and with my full authority and that of the Government. The Council session was in recess for a large part of that day for bilateral meetings and I returned to Brussels that same evening to attend the bilateral meeting scheduled for the Irish delegation and remained there until the Council concluded its business on 17 December 1992.