Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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123. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his discussions with President Macron when he was at the informal EU Heads of State or Government meeting in Salzburg. [39572/18]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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124. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his discussions with Chancellor Merkel when he was at the informal EU Heads of State and Government meeting in Salzburg. [39573/18]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 124 together.

Ongoing political engagement with our EU and international partners, remains crucial, in relation to Brexit and other important EU issues. I meet and speak regularly with my EU counterparts bilaterally, and at formal and informal meetings of the European Council, where I use every opportunity to advance Ireland's interests.

I did not have formal bilateral meetings with either President Macron or Chancellor Merkel at the Informal Summit of EU Heads of State and Government in Salzburg, although I engaged with them both in the margins of the meeting.

Both took the opportunity to reiterate their strong support for the need for the Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK to include a legally operable backstop, to ensure there can be no return to a hard border on the island in any circumstances.

I look forward to meeting President Macron and Chancellor Merkel again later this month at the European Council in Brussels on 17 and 18 October.