Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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179. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the bilateral meetings he had with his European counterparts outside of EU Council 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 were 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. [2523/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Taoiseach and Ministers continue to meet and engage with our EU counterparts to emphasise Ireland's concerns and to ensure that they are fully understood once negotiations commence. This activity is reinforced by extensive engagement at official and diplomatic level.

As Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform I have responsibility for a number of areas of EU policy, most notably EU Cohesion policy, which accounts for around one third of the EU Budget, and the EU-funded programmes between Ireland and the UK.

In that context I have been in regular contact with my Northern Ireland counterpart, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, most recently on 16 December 2016 when we both visited Derry to see some of the projects funded under the PEACE and INTERREG Programmes and to meet programme beneficiaries.

In addition, on 21 October 2016 I met the Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Local Government, Mark Drakeford, to discuss the Ireland Wales INTERREG Programme.

The Irish Government is firmly committed to the successful implementation of the current EU-funded cross-border programmes and to successor programmes post-2020.

Of course, there have been and will be no negotiations with the UK until Article 50 has been triggered.