Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I support Deputy Micheál Martin's point of order, which is well made. Estonia is a country with a history not unlike our own. It has endured centuries of occupation and, as the Taoiseach said, celebrates a very significant centenary this year, which is the anniversary of its declaration of independence. We have a relatively small but very vibrant Estonian community in Ireland and I think we will all extend our solidarity to it on this significant milestone. In more modern times, Estonia is very similar to this country in that it is a small northern European country with an open economy that is heavily reliant on IT and technology sectors. In that respect, it has many of the same objectives as us in the context of Brexit. It is important that we build new and strong alliances and I welcome the Taoiseach's comments in respect of that. I know the Taoiseach has met with the Estonian Prime Minister as well as other Prime Ministers from northern Europe and that in advance of the European Council meeting in October, he participated in a meeting of the leaders of the Nordic-Baltic Eight group of states, which includes Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. At the time, the Taoiseach referred to states as like-minded so did he attend the same meeting in December and does he intend to do so in March? Does he intend to join this group on a permanent basis?

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