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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, together.

On 22 January 2018 I met with representatives of the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist churches. I was accompanied by the Minister for Justice and Equality, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, the Minister for Education and Skills, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

This was the second in a series of meetings that I will be holding with dialogue partners. We discussed important social and economic issues facing Irish society, including Brexit, education issues and the eighth amendment of the Constitution as well as international affairs.

On 31 August last, I held a formal meeting under the structured dialogue process with representatives of the Catholic Church, led by Archbishop Eamon Martin. I was accompanied at this meeting by the then Tánaiste, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, and by the Minister for Education and Skills, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. A wide-ranging discussion took place on a range of important national and international issues, including the world meeting of families in August and the possibility of a visit to Ireland by the Pope, education issues, including school admissions, the eighth amendment, Northern Ireland, overseas development assistance and social justice.

Churches and faith communities play an important role in Irish life and I believe it is beneficial that Government should engage with them in a structured way. Some of the issues we discussed at these meetings were challenging. These are issues on which people have deeply-held views and many are matters of conscience. Our discussions were valuable not only because they dealt with important issues but particularly because they were conducted in an atmosphere of respect for the views of others and everyone sought to be constructive.

I also received a courtesy call from Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, as is traditional around the new year period, and I attended a Jewish Seder with the head of the Jewish community in Ireland.

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