Vol. 573 No. 4
296 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the number of delegates his Department will be sending to the conference on rural futures to be held at Salzburg from 12 to 14 November 2003; and the priorities they will be emphasising. [25895/03]
Among the 17 official delegate places allocated to Ireland, four officials of my Department will be attending. As Minister with responsibility for rural development, I will also be attending and will be accompanied by my private secretary and my media adviser. My main priorities at the conference are the role of rural development policy in the rural economy and for rural communities, strengthening the non-CAP aspects of EU rural development policy and the future of the Leader programme after 2006.
