Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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401. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on his discussions on Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35448/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for Brexit, I lead on coordinating the whole-of-Government approach to the EU-UK negotiations and to our preparations for Brexit, with a view to mitigating the impacts to the maximum extent possible and securing the best possible outcome for Ireland.

In this role, I intend to build further on the excellent work carried out over recent months, which has ensured that Ireland’s key interests – as set out in the Government’s comprehensive document of 2 May on our approach to the Brexit negotiations – have been fully reflected in the EU’s negotiating position. Protecting the gains of the peace process is a central priority for the Government in dealing with Brexit. This includes: ensuring that all provisions of the Good Friday Agreement are fully respected and upheld; avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland and; maintaining the Common Travel Area.

A key feature of my role involves representing Ireland at the General Affairs Council (Art. 50), which provides political oversight of the Article 50 negotiations as they proceed, and prepares the work of the European Council (Art. 50), where Ireland is represented by the Taoiseach. The most recent General Affairs Council (Article 50) was held on Tuesday 20 June, where I and the other EU27 Ministers received a short update from Michel Barnier on the launch of the negotiations with the UK which had taken place the day before.

In order to ensure that Ireland’s key priorities and concerns are understood by our partners, the Government has undertaken an intensive campaign of engagement with our EU partners and the EU Institutions. This approach has delivered for Ireland, with our unique issues recognised in key negotiation texts, and I am continuing these efforts. I have already held bilateral meetings with a number of my EU colleagues since assuming my new role, including with the EU’s lead negotiator, Michel Barnier, as well with my Estonian, Luxembourg, French, Slovak, Belgian and Spanish counterparts. I also welcomed the Finnish Foreign Minister to Ireland earlier this month and my officials are currently finalising the details for further engagements in the autumn.

In these meetings, I have laid particular emphasis on Ireland’s objective of protecting the gains of the peace process and avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. I have strongly emphasised the need for an imaginative and flexible political solution.

I have also stressed the importance of ensuring that the positive momentum from the early rounds of EU-UK negotiations is maintained so that progress can be made as quickly as possible on the many complex issues facing the negotiators. It is important to make sufficient progress on the exit issues, including citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the Irish specific issues, in phase one of the negotiations so that parallel discussions can begin in phase two on the EU’s future relationship with the UK, including on trade, as well as on effective transitional arrangements.

Engagement with the UK, in particular on Irish-specific issues, is also important. In this regard, I met the UK’s Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, David Davis, in London on 6 July and more recently, I met the UK’s Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council on 17 July. Given the unique situation of Northern Ireland in the Brexit context, Brexit issues have of course featured in discussions with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire and with as well as the main political parties in Northern Ireland.