Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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29. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with Ms Christine Lagarde on 26 June 2018; the persons that attended; and the issues that were discussed. [28779/18]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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32. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with Ms Christine Lagarde. [29096/18]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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33. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent engagement with the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Ms Christine Lagarde. [30411/18]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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34. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent meeting with Ms Christine Lagarde. [30600/18]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 29, 32 to 34, inclusive, together.

I had a very positive tête-à-tête meeting with Ms Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, in Government Buildings on 25 June. I also hosted a dinner to mark her visit to Ireland on the evening of 26 June.

Our exchanges covered the economic outlook, international trade, and gender equality issues.

On the economic outlook, we discussed the latest IMF Article IV assessment of the Irish economy.

We agreed that the economy is enjoying a period of strong growth and increasing employment, but that we must proceed carefully to share the benefits with everyone and throughout the country, while guarding against the type of policies that have resulted in the boom-bust of the past.

On trade, we discussed the risks posed by growing international tensions. I welcomed Ms Lagarde's strong and vocal advocacy for preserving and deepening the rules-based multilateral trading system, which is of course crucially important to our own highly open economy. We agreed that in a trade war, there are no winners.

Ms Lagarde also informed me about the work she is doing to advance gender equality, including in placing it at the centre of the IMF’s work.I offered her my strong support in this.

I also took the opportunity to highlight some recent Government initiatives in this area, including the recently published Gender Pay Gap (Wage Transparency) Bill and a business-led group being established to increase female representation on corporate boards which will be launched shortly.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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35. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meetings with the British Prime Minister or British officials on matters related to Northern Ireland. [28835/18]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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36. To ask the Taoiseach if he has spoken to the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, recently or at European Council bilateral meetings on reconvening the Northern Ireland Assembly. [30456/18]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 35 and 36 together.

I had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister May on the margins of the EU Council in Brussels on June 28.

We discussed the current political situation in Northern Ireland where I emphasised my Government’s full commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and we re-affirmed the determination of both Governments to secure the effective operation of all its institutions.

In line with this, we agreed that a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference will take place in London on 25 July in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement and which will be co-chaired by the Tánaiste and Minister David Lidington.

We also discussed Brexit and I told Prime Minister May very clearly that there is not much time left if we are to conclude a Withdrawal Agreement and have it operational by the time the UK leaves.

The UK gave clear commitments and guarantees in December and again in March in relation to the border on the island of Ireland, and we need to see detailed, workable proposals from them to deliver on these commitments.

I told the Prime Minister that the EU27 agreed that, if we don’t get agreement on a backstop or on the other outstanding elements, it won’t be possible to finalise the Withdrawal Agreement as whole, including the transition arrangements.

I have always said that I hope the future relationship between the EU and the UK will be as close and comprehensive as possible, and that it will remove any need for a hard border.

But it will not, in any way, remove the need for a legally robust backstop to apply unless and until better arrangements enter into force, ensuring that there will never be a hard border on this island, whatever circumstances prevail.

While I am hopeful that we will achieve a very close, comprehensive and ambitious future relationship with the UK, the government is of course continuing to plan for the full range of scenarios.

I also spoke with Prime Minister May by phone on Saturday afternoon when she briefed me on the outcome of her Chequers Cabinet meeting on Friday.

I welcomed the fact that the UK Government had reached a position where it would put forward detailed proposals for the future EU-UK relationship post-Brexit.

I look forward to seeing greater detail on those proposals over the coming days and hope that they would be a helpful input to the negotiation process.

I explained my hope that the UK Government would engage constructively with the Barnier Task Force and the other Member States over the coming weeks.

I also made clear that the Government was open to proposals which meet our aims of avoiding a hard border and maintaining free trade with the UK, while respecting the EU single market and customs union.

The Prime Minister and I agreed that we, and our offices, would maintain close contact in the period ahead.