Under the provisions of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, PSMA, the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs is required, every three years, to submit for ministerial approval a strategy statement outlining a programme of implementation for Ireland's foreign policy objectives for the following three years. The current strategy statement – for 2001 to 2003 – sets out the Department's high-level policy goals and the detailed strategies and objectives to be pursued in order to achieve them. The Secretary General is also required, under the PSMA, to submit annual reports to the Minister setting out the progress towards achieving the policy goals and objectives contained in the strategy statements.