Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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19. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he plans to have a bilateral meeting with his Croatian counterpart. [31471/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland and Croatia enjoy excellent bilateral relations which, as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, I am committed to strengthening. Alongside other European counterparts, I meet Minister Gordan Grlic Radman regularly at the Foreign Affairs Council, which convened again in Luxembourg earlier this week. I look forward to scheduling a formal bilateral exchange with the Minister in the period ahead, conscious of our many shared priorities.

In doing so, we will build on ongoing close engagement between our Governments. The Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, Peter Burke, visited Croatia on 6 June for consultations with his counterpart, State Secretary for European Affairs, Andreja Metelko-Zgombic . On 7 June, Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, met with the Croatian Minister of Finance, Marko Primorac, at the OECD Ministerial Council in Paris. Mr. Kieran O'Donnell, Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, also visited Zagreb around St Patrick's Day this year, meeting Croatian counterparts. As we mark Ireland's 50th anniversary of EU accession and Croatia's 10th, I am pleased that the connections between our countries have never been stronger.