Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As we know the British-Irish Council, established under the Good Friday Agreement, deals with the totality of relationships on these islands. It is welcome that the council met recently and important that it, along with the North South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, would meet regularly.

I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the state of Anglo-Irish relations. There is no doubt that those relations have been strained due to Brexit and that opportunities for the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister to meet have been reduced because the UK no longer attends European Council meetings. Last year, the Taoiseach stated that he had agreed with the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnston, to begin work on a strategic review of the British-Irish relationship. This could involve new structures and a framework for building on east-west engagement and co-operation. He also said that new structures needed to be developed for formal engagement between the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, as well as at ministerial and official level, to formulate co-operation across a suite of policy areas. I ask the Taoiseach to provide an update on progress in this regard.

I welcome the allocation of €3 million to progress work on the Narrow Water bridge project, as well as the progress made this week on dealing with legacy issues in Northern Ireland. Hopefully, all parties and victims will engage in that process.

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