Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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109. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on his most recent meeting with Mr. Michel Barnier; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39024/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I met with Michel Barnier on 18 September in Brussels and discussed progress in the negotiations between the EU and UK on the Withdrawal Agreement and the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. Mr Barnier confirmed once again his view that without a backstop there can be no Withdrawal Agreement. He briefed me on his assessment that it is time to ‘de-dramatise’ the Protocol and focus on agreeing the workable solutions that it offers at its core. Ireland fully supports this approach and Mr Barnier’s continuing efforts to agree with the UK the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. We also discussed the future relationship between the EU and the UK. At the GAC (Article 50), and subsequently at the informal European Council meeting in Salzburg on 20 September, our EU partners strongly reaffirmed their support for Ireland and the importance of agreeing a legally-binding backstop, as well as repeating their support for Mr Barnier in his efforts to conclude an agreement. As time is short, it is a matter of urgency that the UK engage constructively with him and his team with the objective of making progress on reaching an agreement on the backstop ahead of the European Council on 17-18 October.