Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 17, inclusive, together.

I met with Mr. Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator for Brexit, in Government Buildings on Thursday 11 May. I was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Minister of State for European affairs. The meeting provided an opportunity, following the European Council's adoption of the EU negotiating guidelines and in advance of agreement on the more detailed negotiating directives, to thank Mr. Barnier for his openness to Ireland in relation to our particular concerns arising from Brexit and to highlight our thoughts about the process ahead.

We discussed the serious implications in relation to peace and stability in Northern Ireland and the Border, and for the Irish economy, particularly the fisheries and agrifood sector. I commended Mr. Barnier on his address to the Oireachtas that morning and expressed confidence in his ability to negotiate on behalf of the EU 27 and to take account of Ireland's particular concerns.

Mr. Barnier stressed the complexities of the issues involved in the negotiations and outlined his intention to be firm but fair. He committed to ensuring that the task force remains accessible to all Member States and especially to Ireland, given our unique concerns.

There is ongoing daily engagement on Brexit and on other EU issues between the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and, indeed, with the permanent representation in Brussels and our network of missions across the EU, with a view to ensuring a comprehensive approach to EU affairs. There is also of course ongoing interaction across all Government Departments on the range of EU issues, including through regular meetings of the senior officials group on the EU and the inter-departmental group on Brexit, which is chaired by the second Secretary General in my Department.

This is consistent with the approach set out in my Department's statement of strategy, which identified the need for a whole-of-government approach to the Brexit negotiations.

The second Secretary General also acts as Ireland's sherpa and, in this capacity, meets and engages regularly with his EU counterparts. Since the triggering of Article 50 on 29 March, there have been two formal sherpa meetings under the Article 50 format, one on 11 April and another on 24 April. Ireland participated fully in both of these.

The discussions focused on the EU negotiating guidelines, which were subsequently agreed by the European Council on 29 April.

The negotiations on Brexit, which will be conducted by the Commission, will be guided by the European Council in its Article 50 format, that is, the heads of state and government of the 27 member states.

In addition, Ministers at the General Affairs Council now also discuss issues relating to Brexit in the Article 50 format.

At official level, the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, COREPER, and the new working party are also meeting at 27 to discuss issues relating to Brexit. COREPER meets on a weekly basis. The new working party first met on 23 May and it is expected to meet twice a week from now on. Of course, there are also daily meetings of working groups on the full range of EU issues and these groups include representatives of all member states, including Ireland.

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