Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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49. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the latest discussions he and his officials have had with his counterparts in Northern Ireland during Covid-19 regarding the Border and combating the virus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37692/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There is regular and ongoing North-South contact and cooperation on the island in response to COVID-19 at both operational and political level. As public health measures are under constant review in both jurisdictions, it is essential to maintain strong North-South collaborative arrangements and, wherever possible, consistency of approach.

In April, this cooperation was formalised in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the public health response to the pandemic between the Government and Northern Ireland Executive by then Minister for Health Simon Harris T.D. and Northern Ireland Minister Robin Swann and the two Chief Medical Officers.

With the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, I have jointly chaired a number of conference calls with the First Minister and deputy First Minister and both Health Ministers, to discuss the ongoing response to COVID-19.

At the most recent meeting in this format on 12 October 2020, it was agreed to intensify further the regular and ongoing contact between the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, with the active involvement of the health administrations in both jurisdictions, and to take a co-ordinated approach wherever possible to public health measures and messages. The numbers of cases in the second wave, north and south, has brought home again the immense importance of coordination and cooperation to address the pandemic.

Health is one of the formal areas of North-South cooperation under the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC), through which the existing strong and enduring relationships between health systems and officials on the island of Ireland continue to be strengthened

The response to Covid-19 on the island was discussed at the NSMC Health and Food Safety meeting on 2 October 2020. Ministers Donnelly and Swann agreed to continue to meet, both within the NSMC and outside the formal structures of the Council, to discuss the response to the pandemic. In the period ahead, officials from both jurisdictions will continue to exchange views to foster commonality in their approach, where possible.