Bobby Aylward
Ceist:749. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Health if he has had formal engagements with his EU counterparts over the past six months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45837/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 6 November 2018
Ceisteanna (749)
Freagraí scríofa
I engage regularly with my EU counterparts at the EPSCO (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) Council meeting of Health Ministers, as well as through bilateral meetings in capitals and on the margins of Council meetings.
I attended the EPSCO (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) Council meeting of Health Ministers in Luxembourg on 22 June 2018. I met with the Health Ministers of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, and the Director General of the Austrian Health Ministry on the margins of the Council Meeting to formally sign Ireland up to the BeNeLuxA Initiative on Pharmaceutical Policy Agreement (Letter of Intent). I also met UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, Lord O’Shaughnessy, to discuss Brexit and a range of health issues.
I met the German Federal Health Minister, Jens Spahn, when he visited Ireland on 3 August. We discussed among other matters Brexit and health issues.
Minister Catherine Byrne attended the Health Informal meeting of Ministers in Vienna on 10-11 September 2018. She met with Lord O’Shaughnessy, UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, to discuss Brexit and a range of health issues.
Minister Jim Daly met with the Lithuanian Minister of Health, Aurelijus Veryga, on 11 October during his visit to Ireland. The Ministers opened a Joint Session on Rare Diseases between the Department of Health and the Lithuanian Ministry of Health. They then held a bilateral meeting to discuss health system reform, alcohol control policy, and health promotion.
Minister Daly represented the Government at a visit to the border by the Austrian Minister for the EU, Gernot Blumel, on Friday 12 October 2018. The Ministers discussed the potential impact of Brexit on the border, on border communities, on trade and on the Peace Process.