Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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268. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the bilateral meetings he had with his European counterparts outside Council of the EU 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. [2511/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Government is acutely aware of the potential risks and challenges for the Irish economy arising from Brexit, and particularly those that arise in the agri-food sector. An important part of our preparations for the Brexit negotiations is ensuring that our particular concerns are heard and understood across Europe, and engagement with our EU partners and with the EU institutions is therefore critical. Accordingly, 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 addition to the meetings that I have had over recent months with my counterparts Michelle McIlveen and Andrea Leadsom, in Belfast and in London, I have raised Ireland's agri-food concerns arising from Brexit with a range of EU counterparts. This has taken place not only in the margins of Council of Ministers meetings, but also in the context of other Ministerial gatherings such as that in Chambord, France, last September and the regular European People's Party meetings in Brussels, where I have had the opportunity to raise our concerns with Member States such as Germany, France, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, Spain and Hungary. I will be meeting Secretary of State Andrea Leadsom at Berlin Green Week over the weekend and several of my EU counterparts at the Council of Agriculture Ministers in Brussels next Monday.

Senior officials of my Department have also been meeting with counterparts from other Member States such as Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands, and with forthcoming EU Presidencies, with a view to deepening our engagement on this issue and preparing formal meetings at Ministerial level, which will intensify in the coming months in order to ensure Ireland's concerns are fully reflected in the EU position once negotiations commence.

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