Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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206. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the increased violent attacks on civilians will be discussed at the December EU Council meeting. [53226/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The draft agenda for this week's meeting of the European Council sets out a number of broad areas for discussion by the Heads of State and Government - defence; social issues, education and culture; migration; external relations; and the Brexit negotiations.

The EU's actions to counter terrorism are a consistent aspect of the agenda of the Council of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers. The Deputy will wish to know that I attended a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on Thursday last week at which Ministers discussed ongoing work to combat the threats from terrorism and violent radicalisation that has seen a number of brutal attacks on innocent people in a number of EU member states.

Work to counter violent radicalisation is an important element of the EU agenda in this regard and a high-level expert group, set up earlier this year by the European Commission, to look at enhancing ways to counter violent radicalisation presented an interim report to Ministers which, importantly, emphasised the need to ensure a cross-sectoral approach to countering violent radicalisation.

Ongoing actions to enhance co-operation between law enforcement and counter terrorism authorities in the EU, particularly with regard to sharing information and making the best use of the available EU and Member State resources, also formed an important part of my discussions on countering terrorism with colleagues at the Council.