Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 January 2019
125. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has met the EU ambassadors as a group with regard to Brexit recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4045/19]
View answerI last met with the EU ambassadors as a group at a lunch in the Bulgarian Embassy in June 2018. I frequently meet individual ambassadors.
Officials from my department are in regular contact with the EU ambassadors, both individually and as a group, including at monthly briefings organised by the Embassy of the Member State holding the EU Presidency. In addition, a senior official briefs embassies prior to every meeting of the General Affairs Council and General Affairs Council (Article 50). Official-level briefings are also organised from time to time for non-EU ambassadors.
The Taoiseach, my cabinet colleagues and I take every opportunity to engage with EU partners to advance Ireland’s interests in the Article 50 process. I discuss Brexit collectively with my EU27 counterparts on a regular basis at the General Affairs Council (Article 50). Officials at the Permanent Representation in Brussels as well as in our embassies are in regular contact with their EU counterparts.
In all of these contacts, I am struck by the continued solidarity and unity of our EU partners with Ireland on the issue of the backstop, and I am grateful for their continued public and private expressions of support.
