Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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119. To ask the Taoiseach the issues he discussed when he met Chancellor Merkel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30714/14]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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120. To ask the Taoiseach if the appointment of Mr. Junker was discussed at his meeting with Chancellor Merkel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30715/14]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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131. To ask the Taoiseach further to his meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on 3 July 2014, where he discussed Ireland's banking-related debt, and on the two-year anniversary of the EU summit that he attended and concluded with a summit communiqué that included the statement the Eurogroup would examine the situation of the Irish financial sector with the view of further improving the sustainability of the well-performing adjustment programme, if he is satisfied that European partners are still committed to separating bank and sovereign debt; if he will outline any concession achieved as a result of co-operation with partners in Europe in respect of dealing with the State's banking-related debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31059/14]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 119, 120 and 131 together.

I visited Berlin on 3 July for a programme of economic and trade promotion engagements, during which I met with Chancellor Merkel.

My programme concluded with a speech at the opening session of the annual economic conference of the Wirtschaftsrat Economic Council, entitled “Real Recovery, Sustainable Jobs and Lasting Growth – Ireland’s story and Europe’s next steps”. My speech set out the progress of Ireland’s recovery so far, drawing attention to the sacrifices of the Irish people and to the remaining fragilities in our economy including debt-related issues. I outlined my priorities for an action-focused EU agenda for the years ahead while also setting out the advantages of trading with Ireland given the presence of a large number of major German employers in the audience.

Chancellor Merkel participated at the same session of this conference, prior to which we met together to discuss current European issues and the Irish economy. The main focus of our discussion was the upcoming European Council of 16 July, the current agenda for which includes the ongoing situation in the Ukraine and the appointments to high-level positions in the EU institutions following the nomination of Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission President last month. His nomination is being voted on in the European Parliament this week.

Chancellor Merkel and I discussed the Irish economy and in that context I pointed to ongoing progress with the completion of Banking Union, in particular the recent provisional agreement reached among EU Finance Ministers on the operational framework for the European Stability Mechanism’s Direct Recapitalisation Instrument. This is a further important step in the context of Ireland’s legacy banking debt.

Chancellor Merkel and I also discussed the strong progress made on our previous agreement regarding the investment by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Germany’s state-owned development bank, in the new Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI). The SBCI will provide over €500million in new credit to be made available to Irish SMEs.