Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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95. To ask the Taoiseach if he had bilateral meetings at the European Council meeting in October 2017. [44683/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Meetings of the European Council always provide useful opportunities to meet and interact with the Heads of State or Government of the other 27 EU Member States.

I attended the October European Council in Brussels last week and, over the course of the two days, had the opportunity to engage with several of my EU counterparts.

I was also invited, along with the Dutch Prime Minister, to join the leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries - Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - for a meeting ahead of the European Council discussions.

Although Ireland is not part of a formal group in the EU, as a small northern European nation with an open economy, we have similar positions on many issues, particularly economic issues. I was very pleased therefore to attend this meeting with like-minded partners and to have the opportunity to share our views, including on the future of Europe debate.