Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Again, I will say exactly what we are doing because it is at all levels. The Minister was in Romania and Moldova and we have engaged very heavily with them. For example, my predecessor, the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, did a tour of the western Balkans, as I did. Next week, I will sit down with the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama. We have different formats at European level. For example, the Taoiseach sits at the Nordic-Baltic round table so there is a very close connection there. We also have a Nordic strategy and work very closely with the Baltic countries, in particular. We work with different countries on different issues. There are countries in the rule of law group and the Single Market group, and there is a Hanseatic group of finance ministers as well. It depends on different countries.

There are some countries where we could do a lot more. We have had good visits to Slovakia, which is a country that is so like-minded with us it is incredible. A delegation from the Oireachtas was in Slovakia recently, which was very welcome. We are always trying to do more and to engage more. I listen to what the committee has to say. I strongly encourage Oireachtas committees to continue those visits that this committee has been doing post Covid. That is very welcome. These countries love to see us coming and have a great fondness for Ireland. Many of those countries look to us and look to our success in the EU. We are one of the few EU countries with an embassy in every single member state. That really gives us significant heft because if something happens in Bulgaria, for example, we have somebody on the ground who can tell us what is happening. Not every member state has that. In Slovakia, quite a few European member states do not have embassies. That became apparent when I was there. We are always trying to engage with other countries.

I will say that on Brexit, every single one of the EU member states, east and west, gave us extraordinary solidarity and continue to do so. We are grateful for that. Definitely, we can always get to know them better.