Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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118. To ask the Taoiseach if he has spoken with the Prime Minister of Spain, Dr. Sánchez, while attending the informal European Council meeting in Salzburg or since. [38375/18]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I was honoured to be the first EU leader to meet with Pedro Sánchez following his appointment as Prime Minister of Spain, when I visited Madrid on 14 June. We discussed a range of issues across the EU agenda, including Brexit, migration and the EU budget, as well as foreign policy issues, and bilateral relations. The Prime Minister assured me of his strong support in relation to our unique concerns arising from Brexit, and agreed on the need to ensure that a legally operable version of the backstop is included in the Withdrawal Agreement. My visit to Madrid also included an event with the Spanish-Irish business network, where I had the opportunity to engage with our state agencies working in Spain, and representatives from the telecommunications, banking, tourism, and agrifood sectors.

More recently, I had the opportunity to engage informally with Prime Minister Sánchez at the Informal EU Summit in Salzburg on 19 and 20 September, where I was glad to hear that solidarity with Ireland among all 26 Member States and the EU Institutions remains absolutely solid.

I look forward to interacting with the Prime Minister and my other EU counterparts again at the European Council on 17 and 18 October.

Ongoing political engagement with our EU and international partners remains crucial, especially as negotiations on Brexit proceed, and I continue to take advantage of every opportunity to advance Ireland's interests with my fellow members of the European Council.