Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Howlin. The Government has put significant time and resources into Brexit preparations. Overall, it has been well managed. We have not had the physical manifestation of delays in the form of traffic but I acknowledge that there are other delays. We will never get to 100% of traffic going through green light channels. That is just not possible. The Single Market was built to avoid this type of bureaucracy, paperwork and checks. Britain has left the Single Market and some checks are inevitably necessary. There will always be some checks. There were checks previously but they were not for customs. One in five trucks is stopped, which goes up on certain days, and shows an increase since the start of the year. I am concerned that it would get to a higher level and am concerned about the future.

There are issues with UK trader readiness, as the Deputy mentioned. There are undoubtedly issues with Revenue's computer system. I understand that it has been rectified. Traders bring these matters to my attention. I am not in Revenue or a Minister for it, but in fairness to it, it responds to these issues, which arise regularly. That caused difficulty and there are no two ways about it. Some volumes have reduced, possibly permanently, because of the direct route through the Continent rather than using the land bridge.