Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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422. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on the second round of Brexit negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36426/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The second round of EU-UK negotiations, which took place last week, allowed for the first substantial discussions to take place on the issues that are being addressed in this first phase of the negotiations, including citizens’ rights, the financial settlement, ‘separation’ issues, and of course Irish issues. While some good progress was made last week, including clarification from both sides on the areas of agreement and divergence in regard to citizens’ rights, it is clear that many difficult and complex issues remain, above all in regard to the financial settlement. These issues must be addressed in a constructive spirit as the negotiations progress if the European Council is to be able in October to judge that sufficient progress has been made to allow for the opening of parallel discussions on the framework for future relations.

Michel Barnier, the Chief Negotiator for the EU27, and his team are well prepared for these negotiations, based on the negotiating guidelines and directives agreed in the spring and the extensive and ongoing consultations they are holding with all member States. My officials and I have been working very closely with Mr Barnier and his team to ensure that Ireland’s positions were fully reflected in this round and we will continue to engage in the coming weeks ahead.

On the Irish specific issues, I am satisfied with the direction of the discussions, which were held between the coordinators of the EU Task Force and UK Officials on 18 July, as agreed. The specific topics covered were those previously agreed for the agenda going into this round - maintaining the Common Travel Area and protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts. The discussion centred on assessing the extent of common understanding on the two sets of issues, with both sides agreeing to do further work ahead of the next round of talks.

While the border and related issues were not the subject of detailed discussions in this round’s exchange, the focus in this round on protecting the gains of the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts is of course directly relevant to the crucial objective of avoiding a hard border.