A call has been made for the Government not to accept sponsorship from drinks companies during its presidency of the EU, which begins in January.
The Government has sought sponsorship from Irish businesses to cut the cost of the six-month term of office and to maximise exposure of Irish goods to a wider international audience.
But Fine Gael's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Gay Mitchell, called for confirmation that "we will not have anything such as the Budweiser European Council or the Tullamore Dew Ministers' shindig".
He asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, what would happen for the various EU dinners. "I presume we will not allow companies to sponsor for such meals and related events", to which Labour's spokesman, Mr Michael D. Higgins, quipped: "They will wear the sweatshirt." But Mr Cowen rejected this "negative view" as unfortunate and said there was "no need for people to be like that".
He wanted to "explode this unfortunate myth". It was about "enhancing the quality and image of the country" and not detracting from it. He said that Ireland was following the "very successful" example of the Danish Presidency, by seeking sponsorship. It would all be in goods and services and "no cash sponsorship will be considered".
The Presidency of the day always "takes the opportunity to promote its country widely" and the Minister added that it would be "remiss of the Government if we did not maximise the exposure Ireland will gain from hosting the Presidency, which may well be the last of its kind".
During Question Time, Mr Mitchell asked what guidelines had been put in place to ensure somebody's brother-in-law was not "offered a sponsorship because he knows somebody".
He also asked if the Government intended to exclude certain categories of business from sponsorship "such as those who sell alcoholic produces and manufacture and sell cigarettes".
But Mr Cowen said "there is no question of sponsorship arrangements affecting the conduct of the Presidency or affecting Ireland's approach to policy issues domestically or in Brussels". He explained that all expressions of interest were vetted by an inter-departmental group of officials of "high calibre and high office", who would make decisions by the end of the month. His officials had contacted officials from other EU presidencies who found "no question of any conflicts of interest".
He wanted to make it clear that the purpose was to "enhance the Presidency" and it was no different from what had happened during previous Presidencies and he urged Deputy Mitchell to check the web for Denmark, Greece and Italy to "note the calibre of companies that sponsored those presidencies. Hosting the presidency costs money and sponsorship will allow the Exchequer to defray some of these costs."
But it would also "allow Irish companies and companies with Irish interests to get positive exposure to an audience whom they may not normally have the chance to interact with".
