The Tánaiste will need to get out the leather.

I acknowledge that. I am delighted to see the Deputies are listening at least. In particular, we need to be far more innovative. We must make a greater effort to invest in research, development and technology, which we have sought to do through the establishment of the science foundation, etc. We are losing basic manufacturing jobs and this will continue. However, I hope that economic growth in the future will come through productivity growth, fuelled by innovation, which is the strategy that is in place.

I assure Deputy Kenny that I will be at the two-day meeting of the Council in November. Yesterday I had a long meeting with the Commissioner with responsibility for research. I will be at as many meetings on these matters as I can physically attend.

I thank the Tánaiste for her clarification. I have no wish to interfere with her agenda and if she had undertaken a personal commitment, I accept that. While I understand that the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, was away on official business, I do not see any evidence of public engagements for the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey. I would have thought that in a matter as important as this, Ireland should have been represented by a Minister of State at the very minimum. With due respect to the deputy permanent representative who attended on behalf of Ireland, the attendance record makes very poor reading. The Government should not leave deputy permanent representatives to deal with sensitive political issues like stem cell research, which was discussed at the meeting, or the strategy for competitiveness, which as Deputy Richard Bruton pointed out dealt with inflation, insurance costs and infrastructural costs. These are fundamental matters.

These are matters for which the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, has responsibility.

I wish to point out the seriousness of this. Given that Ireland will assume the Presidency in ten weeks, this is a critical misjudgment by Government. We should be represented at the very highest level. If the Tánaiste was unable to attend, she should have made sure one of her junior Ministers did so. The world competitiveness report has indicated that we have slipped seriously in terms of inflation, insurance costs and infrastructure. It is a shame that it was left to a deputy permanent representative to handle the affairs of Government at such an important meeting.

Since our entry into the EU, there have been many meetings at which we have been very ably represented by our officials. While clearly it is not good practice for this to be the case in all circumstances, sometimes it is unavoidable. There are a huge number of EU meetings. Ireland is the only country in the EU to have one Minister with responsibility for the different areas that come under the Competitiveness Council. Most other countries have separate Ministers for research, internal market matters and industry, which mean they have a larger pool from which to draw. However, I take the point and I am not arguing with Deputy Kenny. It is only in exceptional circumstances that we would not be represented by a Minister or a Minister of State at a Council meeting.