Ireland will need to beef up its presence in Europe, as a result of Britain's planned departure.
That is one of the themes that has emerged at the launch of a public consultation on the Future of Europe.
Leo Varadkar says Brexit will shift the power balance within Europe, and requires Ireland to increase its presence.
He said: "It requires us to increase our presence, we are doing that already, we are beefing up our team in Brussels.
"We will need to build new alliances, some of that has started already with the Baltic countries and the Nordic countries."