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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said Ireland will have to hire around 1,000 new customs and veterinary inspectors to prepare Ireland’s ports and airports for Brexit.
Varadkar said that “with growing uncertainty” about whether the UK government will pass a withdrawal agreement through Westminster, Ireland will need to “change the gear and up our preparations when it comes to Brexit”.
He was speaking after a Cabinet meeting at Derrynane in Co Kerry.
Varadkar said that this plan includes making preparations to our ports and airports, including Dublin Airport, Dublin Port and Shannon, for a change to the rules of trade between Ireland and Britain in January 2021.
“That involves preparing for and hiring veterinary inspectors to carry out sanitary checks on agricultural products and plant-based products coming in from Britain and also customs inspectors,” Varadkar said.
“We estimate that the number of people we will have to hire over the course of the next year is about 1,000 people. That’s customs and veterinary inspectors to prepare our ports and airports for Brexit.”
Speaking on RTÉ’s Six One News this evening, Varadkar said hiring the extra inspectors was a prudent step in order to prepare for the UK leaving the EU.
He said the government accepted Brexit was going to happen. A ‘no deal’ Brexit was an unlikely scenario, he said, adding that the government had to prepare for that possibility.
He said the preparations that were being put in place were not for the border region but were for east-west trade between the UK and Ireland.
He said he was not happy with the level of progress being made in the Brexit negotiations, but that he was happy with how the EU team was representing Ireland’s interests.
The EU was negotiating with the UK from “a position of strength”, he said – adding that Ireland’s chances of getting a good deal were boosted by the fact that all remaining EU nations were negotiating together.
Government measures
The government today signed off on a number of key Brexit preparedness measures focussed on east-west trade, moving this work from the planning to implementation stage.
Relevant government departments have been tasked to prepare detailed action plans building on their contingency planning and regular updates will now be submitted to the government.
The Cabinet has mandated the presentation to government, by September, of detailed and costed plans on the following:
The government agreed to continue contingency planning for a case of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.
The Cabinet also agreed on the need to continue to engage with the European Commission Taskforce and EU Brexit Preparedness Unit on areas where the lead policy role lies with the EU.
In a statement, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said: “It is important to be clear that the decisions taken by government today do not represent the beginning of our preparations.
“A huge amount of work has been underway across government and its agencies for many months. We will also be carrying out some of our preparations on an EU-wide basis, in cooperation with our EU partners.
“The UK has chosen to walk away from the EU’s comprehensive regulatory framework but we will continue to benefit from the stability of our EU membership.”
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Another potentially government collapse posted by the journal at midnight…
@Joseph Mc Dermott: dramatic much?
@Sean D: na, not really
The more I hear about GDPR and personal information , the more annoyed I become about these tags being used to cover people’s tracks! To claim that this information could “adversely affect public security” because perhaps vandalism might happen is as believable as a child telling teacher that “the dog ate my homework”. It points to someone covering up for someone!
@Dave Phelan: It smells of the State deliberately withholding information that directly impacts the lives of local communities under the spurious heading of ‘GDPR’.
This is serious, total bs from DOE and DOA,
Heads have to roll
@Joseph Mc Dermott: sooner noonan is gone the better
People use these waterways, we have a right to know what’s happening in them, in the intrest of health and safety. More underhand work by this government.
DOA sit right next to govt offices on the Kildare St side, they’ve always acted like the kings. We ditched kings à long time ago. The arrogance from this administration is unreal. The swagger in Dohneys after a weeks hard slog doing not much in the most ugly building on Kildare is obvious. I write this based on past experience.
@SPQH: Charlie has to go…malcom has to go… the government has to go.. full stop..let the voters decide
Government bodies Hiding behind GDPR again. GDPR is supposed to to protect citizens personal info. In reality it allows shoddy departments and companies to withhold vital info from the public.
Absolutely disgraceful.
Releasing this in the middle of the night. Who says the media and the government aren’t in cahoots. Open your eyes people. Lies, damn lies and statistics. FFG Out.
@Daniel Gilroy: it’s the Journal’s Forte,, they have been doing it for years,,, I believe that they will not get over this one.
And Eamonn Ryan is ok with this….or is too engrossed in his window vegetable boxes to notice?
@Sandra Molloy: SSSSSSSSSSSSSShhhh!, He’s sleeping!
Quelle surprise!
This constant drip of stories about agriculture is becoming boring. Orchestrated almost. Now let’s do one on pollution from Pharma, local authorities, aviation or data centres. No? Why’s that?
@HMurphy: Agriculture is responsible for nearly half our national carbon footprint so I see no issue with it releasing half the sustainability spotlight… however such is its political power, it’s hardly a whimper, and obscure midnight articles.
@Glen OhAilpin: *receiving half
@Glen OhAilpin: I call back on that stat.. no way does farming do more damage than cars and trucks.. absolutely no way
@HMurphy: When water restrictions kick in, due to drought and long dry weather spells. I hope you will be on here, moaning about why some of our water is undrinkable or polluted and then I can tell you GFY. These individuals, need to be exposed and we need to know what they are doing with the water after using it.
Ffg the people that have big wealth farming industries on a pedestal at the expense of or children’s future .
How dare they think they can hide critical information from the public, or more importantly, the scientific community.
Whatever about industry, it will survive as it’s a huge part of the economy. Farming and especially small scale farming will no longer be with us in 20 or 30 years. If I was in full time farming now I’d be thinking of something else for my children.
@quacquac 51: Farming is a huge part of Ireland’s economy, not industry.
@Pat Barry: it’s around 10% not that much
@michael walsh: According to gov.ie it accounts for 60% of indigenous manufactured exports.
Farmers, ppl who drive cars, holiday makers, ppl who burn turf…..is there anyone we haven’t blamed for climate change yet. The mob screaming save the planet and demanding punishment and taxes are as crazy as the crowd who spent two years during covid happy to have ppl locked in their houses and wearing masks to bed. There’s no level headed grown-up thinking with climate change, it’s basically two sides for and against and both are as crazy as one another. Guess what, the only losers will once again be the joe soap tax payers who will have to foot the bills for fines or pay more taxes and charges cos that is the answer to everything these days
@Tom Newell: If somebody doesn’t see all things can be true whether you like them or not. If you are so sure I suggest you go into a garage close the door and start your car. You will be fine as they don’t pollute
Oh how unequal the scales of ‘justice’ and ‘Democracy are. If I use my garden hose during a ban, I get fined and possibly imprisoned. Are these guys not doing something a trillion times worse and the law and ‘Democracy’ protects them. Are they even being charged for the quantities they steal.
So basically the civil service is a buffer between business sector and the public. If so let the business sectors pay their salaries.
Who’d have thought they could commercialise the weather, but there ya go, the yanks did, well played Al Gore. What’s next to sell to the masses? Shares in paper must be rising seeing USA are yet again printing more money to keep them afloat. 30 trillion more please sir!
“Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” comes to mind.
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