Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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128. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for an update on recent dialogue with the British government, including matters of shared interest on issues such as legacy, trade and migration. [57180/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government maintains close and regular contact with our UK counterparts and this engagement has increased since the reset in political relations set out by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and I, when we met in July 2024. Engagement with the UK Government happens at a variety of levels, now underpinned by the extensive and ambitious Joint Statement 2030, agreed at the first annual UK-Ireland Summit in Liverpool in March.

At political level, Government Ministers maintain regular contact with their UK counterparts on issues relevant to their portfolios through a variety of channels, including regular high-level inward and outward visits and engagement on the margins of multilateral meetings. The Taoiseach and Prime Minister Starmer met most recently on 12 September and discussed the positive state of bilateral relations, as well as wider UK-EU relations.

I have had extensive discussions with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland including on the Joint Framework on the Legacy of the Troubles, published by our two Governments on 19 September 2025. I note the publication of the Bill amending the 2023 Legacy Act on 14 October, which is a vital first step in implementing commitments made in the Joint Framework.

As the world’s sixth largest economy and our closest neighbour, trade between our two countries is of vital importance. Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Ireland was over €124billion in 2023 and the UK continues to be a crucial market for Irish companies. The EU Commission leads on trade with the UK and I am in regular contact with Commissioner Šefcovic and EU Trade Ministers on Ireland’s trading priorities. I welcome the improved engagement since the EU-UK Summit held in May. I have also undertaken a number of initiatives in support of our priorities, including the formation of the Government Trade Forum and the launching of an Action Plan on Market Diversification.

Lastly, there is regular contact between the Minister for Justice, his UK counterpart and their officials on cooperation in respect of managing the Common Travel Area and our shared objectives including to provide for effective management of migration and border security. The issue of the proposed UK Digital ID will be an important area of discussion in the time ahead. Ian Murray, the UK Minister of State for Digital Governance and Data visited Ireland on 7 October and met with Ministers of State Brophy and Richmond to give context to the British Government's recent announcement of a Digital ID scheme. The position of the Irish Government was made clear at these meetings; that it is of paramount importance to ensure there is no infringement of rights enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement, nor any negative impact on the Common Travel Area which has been in place for decades.

In turn, MoS Murray made clear the intention of the UK Government to ensure that this new scheme fully takes account of their commitments under the Good Friday Agreement and the Common Travel Area.