Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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7. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on his recent conversation with the UK Foreign Secretary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4360/25]

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Tánaiste report to the House on the recent conversations he has had with UK Foreign Secretary Lammy?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McAuliffe and formally congratulate him on his re-election to the House. I was pleased to have an opportunity to speak with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on 27 January. It is important that this was one of the first calls I had an opportunity to make on taking office because the relationship between Ireland and the UK is of fundamental importance. This is reflected in our many close people-to-people links, our significant levels of two-way trade and the depth and breadth of our shared interests and values in many areas. I welcomed, in my conversation with the Foreign Secretary, the renewed warmth in our bilateral relationship. That warmth is real. The term "reset" is often used but I genuinely believe the reset in Anglo-Irish relations is real and meaningful. It has allowed our Governments to work together to rebuild relations between our countries, relations which had gone through a very rocky patch, to put it mildly, in recent years. It allows us to realise this ambition of good close neighbours working together with a common purpose and to our full potential. Our roles and responsibilities as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement remain a bedrock of the relationship and a solemn duty both Governments have.

My call with the Foreign Secretary was, equally, an important opportunity to discuss the common global and security challenges that we face. We focused in particular on Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan. Not to digress but the issue of Sudan is still not given nearly enough attention in terms of the scale of devastation there. We also shared perspectives on the transatlantic relationship and working with the new Administration in the United States. The Foreign Secretary and I agreed to meet in person soon to engage further on these and other important issues. I think we will both be at the Munich Security Conference and in South Africa at the G20. During our call, I welcomed the UK's renewed positive engagement on EU-UK relations. The current global environment is a challenging one. As partners with many shared interests and values, there is real potential to work together on pressing global and security challenges. I look forward to working with the Foreign Secretary on these matters.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I intend to note at each Oral Questions session from now on the disproportionate, unbalanced and unfair priority which some parties in the House have to hold the Government to account, given the allocated amounts of time. I hope the Government and the Opposition will follow through on their words to allocate more time to people representing one of the largest groups in the House, namely, backbenchers. We have as much right to ask Priority Questions to our Ministers as anybody else in the House. I acknowledge the Tánaiste's appointment and that of the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, who was a healthy contributor on foreign affairs as a backbencher. It is great to see him in the post and I think he will have great grá for it.

My interest in this question dates back to the 1997 opportunity for peace, when Northern Ireland was going to join a world of prosperity and peace and a multinational rules-based order. Much of that has been eroded over the years and I am concerned about trade policy and how both trading blocks - the UK and the EU - may differ in the face of US tariffs.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Not to digress from the question, I share the Deputy's view. I will always stand up for the right of my colleagues in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to participate in the Dáil and will respect their mandate to the fullest. I thank the Deputy for the kind words about the appointment of my colleague, the Minister of State. I am pleased to have him as my co-pilot at this busy time.

The Deputy is right about the importance of the EU and UK working together. I do not like Brexit - we all opposed it but we respect the sovereign decision taken. Obviously, this country would like to see a closer relationship between the UK and the EU. That is in the first instance a matter for the UK Government but Ireland, which will always be a member of the EU in how we approach this, will be constructive. I know from my conversations with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland that there is a real eagerness to explore a closer practical relationship. That is, as the Deputy suggests, in the interests of all of us who have come since the Good Friday generation. We have peace on the island and between the two islands; it is the prosperity we now need to see fully harnessed.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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We saw with Brexit that a huge amount of work went into preparing Irish business for the impacts of the divergence between the two parts of the island on trade, customs and tariffs. As we head into more uncertain times in terms of the transatlantic relationship regarding trade and tariffs, I ask the Tánaiste's Department and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to engage more with business. That is unlike members of the Opposition, who seem to pour water on engaging with businesses on trade. Of course, the Government should have an ethical framework and avoid any suggestion of oligarchy and so on, but if it is to deal with trade and tariffs, the people it should talk to are Irish businesses and people carrying out business in Ireland. We need to look at what the unintended consequences for those might be, most immediately in terms of aluminium and steel. We do not know where this will go but more engagement with businesses and for them to inform our position is a positive step and something we should not discourage. Some people in this House are better at creating jobs than others.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I agree. The Government should and unapologetically will talk to those who create jobs, investment and growth in our country and economy. The point I have been trying to make and will make to the Trump Administration is that the relationship is now two-way. There is not a state in the United States of America that does not have jobs created by Irish-owned companies. The top ten companies are responsible for around 115,000 jobs in the United States. The investment level by companies is around $323 million in the last full year for which we have figures. We bring real benefits for people who voted for President Trump. They might be working in Irish-owned companies and benefiting from that investment. We need to keep making that point.

The Deputy is right on carefully monitoring and analysing recent trade developments. He referenced steel and aluminium. Tomorrow I will attend an unscheduled meeting of EU trade ministers on this issue. It is important that we share information and insights and continue to monitor this.

On the all-island approach and working in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, when I met the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, I made the point that we should continue across the island to share information and perspectives. The Northern Ireland office has a presence in Washington; we have an embassy. We should be working together to make the island-of-Ireland argument.