January 2017 - What we've been up to

Justice and Home Affairs Council

Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald had some very positive comments on the Justice and Home Affairs meeting where data protection and privacy concerns and defined the Home Affairs meeting as excellent. The Justice and Home Affairs Ministers met in Malta on two separate days to discuss, in a more informal manner, matters that fall within their remit, and to set the way forward on specific issues. The topics subjects considered by the Ministers include immigration, security as well as Criminal and Civil Justice matters.

General Affairs Council

EU Affairs Minister Dara Murphy represented the Government of Ireland at the Informal Meeting of EU Ministers and State Secretaries for European Affairs held in Malta. The Minister defined Malta's agenda as very exciting and ambitious. Looking forward to Malta's first EU Presidency Minister Murphy highlighted The Irish Prime Minister's visit to Malta during the first week of February. He described Malta as a small, beautiful island with a very big heart just like Ireland. He was very keen on heavy focus on the digital economy, competitiveness and innovation. It is imperative that Europe keeps up with the rest of the world in terms of technological advancements. Ireland and Malta need Europe to be competitive and innovative in order for the ICT sector to flourish, he said.