Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 October 2004
198 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will report on the workings of the British-Irish Council with regard to his Department; the way in which reports are acted on; the frequency with which it meets; the persons who, for his Department, are in contact with their relevant counterparts; and the frequency with which they exchange information. [24736/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe British-Irish Council was established under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement to promote positive, practical relationships among its members. The members are the British and Irish Governments, the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The BIC provides a forum for members drawn from the eight administrations involved to consult and exchange information on a range of issues of mutual interest. My Department is involved with the council's work on social inclusion.
At the meeting of the council in November 2002, it was decided that the initial work of the group should be on the specific theme of financial inclusion. One meeting of Ministers of the social inclusion strand was held in July this year, at which this work was received and concluded. The report has recently been published on the British-Irish Council website. Ministers agreed that the next topic for work within the council's social inclusion theme would be disability, with a specific focus on access to employment, education and training.
Meetings of the social inclusion officials group are generally held two to three times per year. They are attended by one representative of each administration, while the lead administrations naturally have more in attendance. In addition, representatives of the BIC secretariat are also present. My Department is represented by an official from the office for social inclusion which has, within my Department, overall responsibility for developing, co-ordinating and driving the national action plan against poverty and social exclusion.
