Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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51. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the level of engagement his Department has held with the Vatican regarding the forthcoming Papal visit. [26474/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government has warmly welcomed the Pope’s forthcoming visit to Ireland, which it regards as a major event with a high degree of public participation and a strong international profile. As the primary focus of the Papal visit will be to attend the World Meeting of Families, the Catholic Church, together with the World Meeting of Families, are the key stakeholders and in this capacity are working closely with the Vatican on the programme of events for the visit. As is usual with such visits, there has been engagement by my Department with the Vatican through the Irish Embassy to the Holy See. The Embassy has liaised with appropriate Vatican officials and has facilitated visits to the Holy See by relevant Irish officials. There have also been a number of advance preparatory visits by Vatican officials to Ireland.

Officials from my Department participate on a steering group, headed by the Department of the Taoiseach, which meets regularly to coordinate key aspects of the visit, including security, media/communications, public safety and transport.