Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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27. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when the next meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council will be held and the issues to be discussed. [22470/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The next Plenary meeting of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) will be held on 18th November in Armagh. I expect that we will have a further substantive discussion with our Northern Ireland colleagues on the implications of the UK referendum result. The agenda will also cover discussions on economic and financial matters, as well as a range of other issues including the North West Gateway Initiative and the North/South commitments made under the Fresh Start Agreement of November 2015.

At the Plenary meeting of the NSMC on 4 July in Dublin Castle, the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive agreed to work together to ensure that Northern Ireland's interests are protected and advanced and that the benefits of North/South co-operation are fully recognised in any new arrangements which emerge as regards the United Kingdom's future relationship with the European Union.

We noted that there are a number of priority areas where implications arise, including the economy and trade, Northern Ireland and British Irish Relations and the Common Travel Area.

We agreed that a full audit will be undertaken in all sectors to identify the possible impacts, risks, opportunities and contingencies arising in the phases preceding and following the UK's withdrawal from the EU. And we agreed that this work would be submitted to ministerial sectoral meetings for consideration as to the strategic and cross-cutting issues arising. The ongoing work to achieve these objectives will be reviewed by the Council when it meets in plenary format in November in Armagh.

The North South Ministerial Council is one of a number of fora, alongside the British Irish Council and the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly, within which it will be possible to discuss with our colleagues from Northern Ireland the implications of the UK referendum vote. In addition, the issue has been discussed and will continue to be discussed in bilateral contacts with the Northern Ireland Executive and with other party leaders in Northern Ireland.

It is the Government's intention to maintain close contact with the Northern Ireland Executive in the period ahead using all appropriate channels, both formal and informal.