Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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53. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on whether legislation being enacted or proposed by the British Government will not impact on aspects of the Good Friday Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52502/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government is determined to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts is fully protected and respected in the context of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and this has been a headline priority since the UK referendum result. As co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, the Government has a solemn responsibility to protect the Agreement in all its parts and the gains of the Peace Process which have been of immeasurable benefit to the entire island, north and south. The British Government has likewise confirmed its commitment to upholding the Good Friday Agreement, including in Prime Minister May’s Article 50 notification to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, in March, and in more recent pronouncements. The British Government has proposed a number of pieces of draft legislation relating to the UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union, which are being considered at Westminster. My Department, including through the Embassy in London, is actively following the progress of these bills in the UK parliament, as is usually done with all draft legislation of interest for Ireland.