Mr. Gerry Harrahill:

I will indeed. To pick up and finish off on the issue of the technology and the two import systems in place, big IT programmes take a significant investment and a lead-in time. We were already engaged in a new import system called AIS before the British Government and the British people decided to leave the Single Market. What we had, therefore, was an unfortunate coincidence of a new system being introduced at the same time as Brexit coming a couple of weeks later. Specifically, and just as a demonstration of our responsiveness, our very strong encouragement to businesses was, if they were investing in technology for the first time, to invest for AIS because that is where the future will be. Specifically, at the request of trade and business, we extended the duration of the old or the existing AEP system. That was an example of the responsiveness of Revenue to practical difficulties that were arising for trade and business.

We have had significant uptake for the automated import system, AIS, in recent months.

Senator Dooley asked a question specifically around transit. It is important to explain that there is a common transit convention to which all EU member states, as well as the UK, are parties. Goods coming from mainland Europe through the UK to Ireland generally come under the transit convention. The whole idea behind it is that we recognise end-to-end transactions. The amount of interaction required with the party in between is limited. The Irish authorities, including Revenue and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, are specifically ensuring that when goods move from Ireland to mainland Europe, our European colleagues do not take a view that because the goods have transited through the UK, they have any less standing in the EU. We have invested heavily to achieve that in terms of commitment and engagement. I must acknowledge the significant support we have received from our European colleagues to ensure goods transiting are not placed at a disadvantage compared with goods that go direct. Obviously, there are delays but we have made significant investment regarding the standing of the goods and the way they are treated and viewed and it has been successful.