James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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17. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the action his Department has taken to build contacts with the incoming Biden Administration in the United States of America; if such efforts are being facilitated by the United States Department of State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38452/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Ireland's relationship with the US is built on a deep foundation of ancestral ties and decades of close political, diplomatic and economic engagement. Strengthening bilateral relations with the US is a priority for Ireland as set out in our Programme for Government,as wellin our Strategy for the US and Canada 2019-2025.

With each successive administration in the White House and each successive US Congress, our relationship has been valued and strengthened, to the benefit of our people on both sides of the Atlantic. The Government engages regularly with the US Administration and with US elected representatives from across the political spectrum.

At the end of September, I travelled to the US for a series of engagements in Washington D.C., which included meetings with representatives from the Administration, as well as with Members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans. We will continue to maintain close relations with Members of Congress and contacts from across the political spectrum, and will continue to seek opportunities to deepen and strengthen our bilateral relations with the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden.

The Taoiseach and President-elect Biden spoke by telephone two weeks ago, during which the President-elect reaffirmed his full support for the Good Friday Agreement. In addition, they looked forward to working together bilaterally and across a range of international areas including EU-US relations, the UN including the Security Council, and on the important global challenges of COVID19, economic recovery and climate change.

We look forward to working with the new Administration, once it is in place, to progress international peace and security. In particular I look forward to working with President-elect Biden's foreign policy team - Tony Blinken as Secretary of State, Jake Sullivan as National Security Advisor, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as US Ambassador to the UN

We will of course work closely as well as with the United States Congress, across the aisle, to pursue comprehensive immigration reform in the US. We are also committed to strengthening transatlantic relations more broadly.

Ireland has always maintained close relations with the US and will continue to do so, including through our Embassy in Washington D.C., our other diplomatic Missions across the United States and through the US Embassy in Dublin.