Vol. 523 No. 2
104 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the number of meetings of EU Culture Ministers held since July 1997; the number she has attended; when she last attended such a meeting; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20221/00]
There have been 13 formal and informal meetings of EU Culture Ministers since July 1997, five of which I attended personally and the remainder were attended by senior officials of my Department. The most recent EU Culture Ministers meeting attended by me was in Lille, France on 20 and 21 July 2000 under the auspices of the French Presidency.
As the Deputy will appreciate, it is not always possible to re-schedule clashing diary commitments. By way of illustration of this dilemma, I had hoped to be in a position to attend the most recent Council meeting held last week but, unfortunately, it clashed with a plenary meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council at which my presence was also required.
