Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

171. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the bilateral meetings he had with his European counterparts outside of Council of the European Union meetings, since the UK referendum to leave the EU took place, in which the issue of Brexit and the unique challenges faced by the island of Ireland was discussed, including the name of each European government ministerial counterpart, the meeting location and the date of each meeting, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2519/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

An extensive programme of engagement with all other EU Governments and the EU institutions, including the Commission’s Brexit Negotiations Task Force, is under way. This engagement is being intensified in 2017 in the run up to the Article 50 negotiations.

This outreach is an important part of our preparations for the Brexit negotiations to ensure that our particular concerns – the economy, Northern Ireland, the Common Travel Area and the future of the EU itself - are heard and understood across Europe.

For my own part, I have spoken at least once with each of my EU Foreign Minister opposite numbers. These discussions either took place over the phone or in person, sometimes in the margins of other meetings I attended such as the EU ASEM Ministerial meeting last July, or the monthly Foreign Affairs Council meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg. The list of my formal engagements since 23 June is presented in the following Table. It is important to note that alongside these formal discussions, I engage on an informal basis very regularly with my EU counterparts including in the margins of EU FAC meetings and other international and multilateral gatherings. I also discuss Brexit matters in the context of Northern Ireland on a regular basis with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire.

Most recently, I met with the Spanish Foreign Minister on 16 January and I hope to have bilateral discussions with my Luxembourg and Finnish counterpart in the weeks ahead. Engagement with EU Embassies in Dublin is also critically important, and to that end I have scheduled a meeting with the local EU Ambassadors this Friday (20 January).

The Government will continue to meet and engage with their EU counterparts over coming weeks to emphasise Ireland’s priority issues, to ensure that these are fully reflected in the EU position once negotiations commence.

This activity is reinforced by extensive engagement at diplomatic and official level.

Of course, Ireland will be part of the EU 27 team and looks forward to working with our fellow Member States in delivering the best possible result for Ireland and for the EU.

Finally, I would note that there has also been extensive contact with the UK government since the June referendum. Last year, I met with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, David Davis. In line with the agreement at EU level that there should be no negotiations until Article 50 has been triggered, these discussions focused on bilateral issues.

Formal engagement by Minister Flanagan with EU counterparts since 23 June 2016