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

Earlier, Deputy Martin asked about the future structure of British-Irish relations after Brexit. He rightly pointed out that after Brexit we will not be in a position to meet British Ministers in the way we do now, three or four times a year at Council of Ministers meetings in Brussels or more frequently at the European Council. One of the suggestions we are working on is to strengthen and restructure the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and use that Good Friday Agreement institution as a mechanism to ensure structured engagement between the Irish Government and the British Government. It is something I intend to pursue with the Prime Minister if he is re-elected or the new Prime Minister if there is one in the next couple of weeks. The matter of landing cards has not been discussed to my knowledge with the British Government but we will monitor any proposals as they develop.

With regard to Israel and Palestine, I have not had any engagement with the Israeli Government or Israeli politicians but I met the leadership of the Palestinian Authority when they came to Dublin. The Tánaiste is in Israel and Palestine this week and is continuing his efforts to deepen our engagement in the region and help to bring peace to the territories.

Deputy Boyd Barrett asked about meaningful EU action such as sanctions. The simple fact is that when it comes to issues such as defence and the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU only acts with unanimity and there will not be EU action given that the 28 countries are not unanimous in their positions on Israel. Some are very supportive of Israel and others are closer to the Palestinians. Without a move to qualified majority voting on foreign policy, I do not see EU-wide sanctions being imposed or action being taken.

I have met President von der Leyen twice and I hope she will be able to visit Dublin soon. We will be at the European Council next Thursday and Friday. I will be watching the UK results come in on Thursday and Friday at the European Council and it promises to be an interesting meeting. The next steps will really depend on the results of the UK elections. There is the possibility of a special Council in January or February to set out the EU's negotiating guidelines for the next phase of talks, which will be negotiations with the UK on the free trade agreement and security and political partnership, but that is all a few steps ahead because we do not yet know what the outcome of the UK elections will be next week. Michel Barnier will remain in the role as negotiator on behalf of the EU, and Phil Hogan as trade Commissioner will have a central role given that a huge part of the future relationship will be free trade.

With regard to Irish issues, I hope we will still have the team of me, the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, in place for the next phase of discussions. It would be very much in the country's interest that this be the case, given the contacts and competencies we have built up over the past two and a half years in representing Ireland when it comes to Brexit.

I must be honest and say I have not been following the events in Bolivia closely but I absolutely condemn any military coups wherever they occur.

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