Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together.

I was very pleased to welcome the Prime Minister, Mr. Justin Trudeau, and his family to Ireland last week. The Prime Minister was especially welcome as my first international visitor given the close and historic ties between our two countries. Our meeting was an opportunity to discuss our shared and common outlook on the issues of free trade multilateralism and climate action.

We discussed the importance of the bilateral trade and investment relationship between our two countries. Annual trade between Ireland and Canada is valued at more than €2.75 billion while Canadian tourist traffic to Ireland has increased by 56% in three years, with close to 200,000 Canadians visiting Ireland every year. The Prime Minister and I agreed that there is considerable potential for growing trade and economic links further given increased direct air access, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, and the strength of our respective economies.

We discussed the current state of play of Brexit since the commencement of negotiations, and I outlined Ireland's priorities in this regard. The Prime Minister was also interested in developments in Northern Ireland, and I updated him on the current political situation there. He reiterated to me the Canadian Government's commitment to support the Northern Ireland peace process and offered any assistance that might be helpful to drive progress.

The Prime Minister and I discussed the benefits and opportunities regarding CETA for both our economies and progress towards the commencement of provisional application. CETA is a progressive and comprehensive agreement which will remove over 99% of tariffs and create sizeable new market access opportunities in many sectors for Irish firms.

We also discussed climate change and reaffirmed our commitment to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The Canadian Government continues its efforts to work with the US on climate change matters given that US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement cannot proceed until 2020.

The Prime Minister and I reaffirmed our commitment to working together across a range of common interests and I look forward to working to strengthen further the bilateral relations between Ireland and Canada in the time ahead. For the sake of completeness, let me add that North Korea did not feature in our discussions.

I later hosted a dinner at Dublin Castle in Prime Minister Trudeau's honour. This event was attended by distinguished guests representing various aspects of Ireland-Canada relations, including politics, tourism, business, culture and sport.

Prime Minister Trudeau's visit to Ireland, coming so soon after the visit of my predecessor, Deputy Enda Kenny, to Canada in May, represents a new era in Irish-Canadian relations. There are enormous opportunities for our two countries to work much more closely together, including on economic issues and trade, and I look forward to this relationship blossoming in the coming months and years.

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