Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It would be remiss of me not to follow up on one point. The Minister of State is looking for the insurance companies to automatically issue green insurance cards without the insurance policyholder having to apply. Post Brexit, companies that export to the UK will be required to have a customs registration number, known as an EORI number. As it stands, exporters can apply for such numbers online. From my understanding of the latest figures I have found, which run up to the end of May, approximately 84,000 businesses will need customs registration numbers, of which 46,500 have them in place. Another 45% of exporters, approximately 37,500, do not have a number in place. In order to prepare for the event of a no-deal Brexit at the end of October, could the Department of Finance engage with the Revenue Commissioners to automatically issue customs registration or EORI numbers to the remainder of these exporters now? Could that measure be introduced? It is in keeping with the Minister of State's view on the green insurance card. To be ready for Brexit, it is critical that any company that exports - and the Revenue Commissioners indicate that there are approximately 85,000 such businesses - have EORI numbers in place. Will the Minister of State take that matter up with the Revenue Commissioners?