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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 17, inclusive, together.

I welcomed the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, to Dublin on Monday 5 March. Our meeting was part of my programme of strategic engagement with other EU leaders, which is strengthening our relationships with key partners across the full range of issues on the EU's agenda.

Xavier Bettel knows Dublin very well from his time as a teenager studying English in Malahide and he was very pleased to be back here, this time as Prime Minister of his country.

Our discussions were friendly and constructive and focused on Brexit, financial services and taxation, as well as institutional issues relating to the future of Europe.

On Brexit, I set out our view on the draft withdrawal agreement and our preference to resolve issues relating to the Border through the future relationship, while emphasising the vital importance of the backstop as set out in the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Bettel expressed his strong support for Ireland in the negotiations and the need to maintain the unity of the 27 states, not least so as to preserve the integrity of the Single Market.

The Prime Minister was accompanied on his visit by a business delegation from the financial services sector and in respect of the sector he was cautious on the Commission proposals for reforming the European system of financial supervision and the European supervisory agencies. He was also cautious about the Commission proposal on digital taxation, which was published on 21 March.

On EU institutional issues, Prime Minister Bettel was opposed to any move away from unanimity on tax matters and underlined the importance of having a Commissioner for each Member State.

We agreed that we share many common positions and that we should work closely together on these and other issues in the period ahead.

I also raised Ireland’s candidature for a seat on the UN Security Council for the 2021-2022 term and our interest in participating in the BeNeLuxA initiative on medicines.

Later that evening, I was pleased to be able to host a dinner for the Prime Minister in Malahide Castle, which was attended by senior political and business representatives.

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