Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

244. To ask the Minister for Finance if he plans to have a bilateral meeting with his Spanish counterpart. [42394/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Ireland has a long-standing and excellent bilateral relationship with Spain, which is framed within the context of our common membership of the European Union.

I held a meeting with Minister Calvino en marge of the Economic and Finance Ministers (ECOFIN) meeting in Brussels on 14 July, central to which was an outline by Minister Calvino of Spain’s EU Presidency which they hold for the second half of this year. More generally, I am in regular and ongoing contact with my EU counterparts, meeting every month at the Eurogroup and ECOFIN meetings, most recently at the Informal Meeting of ECOFIN and Central Bank Governors in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on 15 and 16 September.

At present, no plans are in place for a further bilateral meeting with Minister Calvino, but I look forward to engagement with her over the coming months to build on the long-standing cooperation between our countries and economies.