Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.

I hosted the second plenary meeting of the all-island civic dialogue on Brexit with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, in Dublin Castle on Friday 17 February. The event built on the 14 all-island sectoral dialogue events, which were hosted by Ministers across the country, that have taken place since the first plenary in November.

More than 1,100 delegates have participated in the sectoral dialogues, enabling the Government to have one of the widest possible conversations on the implications of Brexit for this island, North and South. The sectoral dialogues covered the following issues: education; agrifood; transport and logistics; tourism and hospitality; children and young people; jobs, enterprise and innovation; energy; heritage, culture and rural Ireland; pensions, social welfare rights and social insurance; human rights and the Good Friday Agreement; and seafood and agriculture and forestry.

We have captured the key issues raised at all of these events and they are providing an important input to the Government's preparations for the Article 50 negotiations which will commence after the UK has triggered Article 50.

The second plenary meeting attended by over 400 representatives from across the political spectrum, industry, civic society and the public sector North and South allowed us to further develop the dialogue and to pull together the many strands that it has explored to date. It was also an opportunity to share some detail on our overall preparations for the Brexit negotiations and how we are organising and structuring ourselves around that. The plenary meeting was live streamed on the day and is available on MerrionStreet.ie.

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