14 December 2010
The Chief Minister, accompanied by the Treasury Minister, attended the fifteenth summit meeting of the British-Irish Council in Douglas, Isle of Man on Monday 13 December.
The Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, the Hon. Tony Brown MHK, welcomed delegates from:
- Guernsey
- Jersey
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
- Ireland
- the UK
The full agenda included debate on the current global economic situation as it is affecting member administrations and An Taoiseach, Mr. Brian Cowen TD, updated the summit on Ireland’s 4 year recovery plan and its 2011 Budget, recently agreed in principle by the Irish government.
The UK spending review and public expenditure reductions were also discussed and Senator Terry Le Sueur shared the outcome on Jersey’s own budget debate and the challenges it will pose in the future.
Senator Terry Le Sueur said “Today’s busy meetings have been extremely valuable and allowed us to expand on our relationships with other members. An excellent example of this is the work that is being done by members on digital inclusion.
“This programme is particularly important as increasing access to broadband to provide an increasing range of public online services will drive efficiencies in public services.”
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