Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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124. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has met his Polish counterpart to discuss Brexit or other issues recently. [38606/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Maintaining regular contact with our fellow EU Member States, and the EU Commission, has been a vital aspect of ensuring that Ireland’s priorities, in particular the continued protection of the Good Friday Agreement, are understood and reinforced as part of the Brexit negotiations. To this end, I, as well as other members of Government and senior officials, meet with Ministers and officials from the EU27 on a very regular basis, either bilaterally or on the margins of EU Council meetings.

Most recently, while attending the GAC (Article 50) in Brussels on 18 September, I spoke with Konrad Szymañski, the Polish Minister for European Affairs. On 3 October, I shall be visiting Warsaw, where my meetings will include one with the Foreign Minister, Jacek Czapotowicz.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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125. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has spoken with his Spanish counterpart in relation to his request for legal guarantees regarding Gibraltar. [38375/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In June I met with my Spanish counterpart, Josep Borrell, in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council and expressed my appreciation for Spain’s continued support for Ireland and for the inclusion of a legally binding backstop arrangement in the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland which is to form part of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.

We also discussed the ongoing discussions between Spain and the UK with regard to Gibraltar. At the most recent GAC (Article 50) on 18 September, Spain provided an update to the EU27 on the status of these negotiations. I expressed Ireland’s support for continued efforts to resolve the important issues regarding Gibraltar which arise in the context of the UK’s exit from the EU.