Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
Ceist:52 Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the relationship between his Department and BIM regarding trade matters. [16856/95]
Written Answers. - Trade Relationships.
Brian Cowen
Ceist:53 Mr. Cowen asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the relationship between his Department and An Bord Bia regarding trade matters. [16862/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 53 together.
The Minister for Tourism and Trade has responsibility for Ireland's trade policy including representation of Irish interests in the EU and multilateral fora such as the World Trade Organisation and the OECD. This involves his Department in close and regular contact with other Government Departments, including Marine, Agriculture, Food and Forestry, who, or whose agencies, have a specific interest in trade in goods and services to or from this country.
An Bord Bia and Bord Iascaigh Mhara are executive agencies, reporting directly to the Ministers for Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Marine respectively. Based on the principle that agencies should work together in such a ways as to ensure that there is no wasteful duplication or overlap and that the service provided to client firms of each of the agencies is the very best possible, An Bord Tráchtála, the executive agency which reports to my own Department, liaises with both ABB and BIM, including co-ordinating activities in the market place, where appropriate. The nature and extent of this co-operation is a day-to-day operational matter for the agencies.