Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

All sides were both exhausted and contented when a trade agreement was finally reached between the European Union and Britain at the end of December. The decision to leave the EU was one taken by the British people, or more specifically by people in England. That is their democratic decision, but it would be more palatable to many in this House if they were not dragging parts of our country out of the EU with them. Businesses and exporters have been contending with the new trading terms between the EU and Britain which came into force on 1 January. Unfortunately, these businesses are now being exposed to the realities of a hard Tory Brexit as we witness significant disruption to trading and supply chains that have been built over decades.

In negotiations, assumptions on the practical outworking of a deal are made by the negotiating teams. This was most certainly the case with the new trading arrangements. The reality is, however, that assumptions made in negotiations are often theoretical, abstract and academic compared with how the realities of the situation express themselves in practice on the ground. The current situation at ports and airports is an example of this, as businesses and exporters have battled to familiarise themselves with the new trading terms between the EU and Britain, the outworkings of which are significant disruptions to trading and supply chains that have been built up over decades. While it was important to get a deal, it is also important that the deal works for the State, for the whole island, for businesses, and for our fishing communities. There is an urgent need to renegotiate the Common Fisheries Policy, and I urge all parties to support the Sinn Féin amendment. It is not intended, as the Minister tried to characterise it, to be divisive but rather to give this House an opportunity to unite behind our fishing communities, to stand with our fishers, and to express collectively our solidarity. It is the very opposite of division and is intended to unite people.

This means that the Government and the EU, where we have a direct say, have to iron out imperfections in how this new deal is operating. Naturally, with new systems, new customs officers and a whole new way of trading, there are issues which will rectify themselves over time. However, there are other areas where the State will have to push the matter and get involved in coming up with rapid and necessary solutions.

The low level of freight entering and exiting the State during the early days of 2021 have masked the serious problems which are developing due to the complications of the new trading arrangements. In recent weeks these complications have caused havoc for the export and importation of goods for Irish businesses. These problems are as a result of the complexity of the new trading arrangements and the paperwork and ICT systems which now exist to deal with this new post-Brexit trade deal. The Government must pull stakeholder and business groups together, as well as the State agencies such as Revenue and customs, so that the existing problems can be identified and rectified quickly.

However, there are other problems such as rules of origin issues, where goods sent from Europe to Ireland orvice versastop off in Britain as part of the delivery process, are unpacked and then repacked, resulting in the goods losing their free tariff status. These matters have to be ironed out and resolved as quickly as possible. Similarly, we have to work with every sector to ensure issues with groupage transport are ironed out. Currently, groupage transport is only as strong as its weakest link. If a trailer has 30 consignments on it and the paperwork is correct for 29 of those loads but wrong for one, then that trailer is stuck in the port until the whole issue is rectified. Now that we have three weeks of experience in the new arrangements, businesses need to be reached out to again about the new trading systems, and if improvements can be made, they need to be made and made urgently.

We must also assess the evolving situation for opportunities for Irish businesses under these new arrangements. Inevitably, trade voids will appear due to Britain’s exit of the EU and the new trading relationship. The State must be prepared to invest in our SMEs and family businesses to help them expand to capture the lion’s share of this trade, especially the trade in goods. We should be requesting an elongated period of relaxed state aid rules so that we can invest in high productivity, high growth, and high value-added sectors which can see good jobs created in manufacturing and exporting. There are other areas where we do not produce the necessary ingredients or goods that we need, such as sugar and flour. I know that my colleague, Deputy Carthy, has raised this issue on a number of occasions. The State needs to look at investing and restoring these industries.

The deal is welcome and more welcome than no deal, but let us not be afraid to focus on the difficulties we now face and let us not rest on our laurels and think that the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement brings this situation to an end. This is only the beginning and we now need to respond diligently and effectively to the new difficulties that are being faced by our businesses and, indeed, by our fishing communities.

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