Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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88. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has spoken to his French counterpart recently regarding Brexit negotiations. [23794/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Engaging with EU partners on the Brexit negotiations is an ongoing priority for the Government and I meet regularly with my counterparts, both individually and at the General Affairs Council (Art. 50). I met with my French counterpart, Minister Le Drian, most recently on 13 May when he visited Dublin. Minister McEntee also met with her French counterpart the following day in Brussels. Brexit was of course, one of the main issues discussed at both meetings.My meeting with Minister Le Drian was an important opportunity to thank him for the continued support of France for Ireland in the negotiations. I also updated the Minister on Ireland’s perspective regarding the current state of play. We discussed the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland and I expressed Ireland’s need to see real and substantial progress on agreeing the Protocol ahead of the June European Council.We agreed that the UK needs to come forward with workable proposals which could form a serious basis for seeking agreement on the text so that the entire withdrawal agreement can be concluded by October. I reiterated Ireland’s readiness to consider any such proposals when they are forthcoming. During our meeting, Minister Le Drian assured me yet again of France’s support for our position on the Irish-specific issues and their solidarity with the EU’s position that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”. And so the Minister was clear that negotiations can only progress as long as all commitments undertaken so far are respected in full, including the Irish-specific issues.

The European Council is continuing to follow the negotiations closely and will return in particular to the remaining withdrawal issues, including the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, at its next meeting in June when it will assess if satisfactory progress has been made and if not, what consequences this will have for the overall negotiations. It is therefore crucial that our engagement with EU partners continues, so that they remain fully aware of Ireland’s position ahead of this important meeting.