Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As a Member of the Irish Parliament, I would like to congratulate Joe Biden today on his investiture as President of the United States of America. I hope he will continue to foster and promote the strong relationship and ties between Ireland and the US.

After four years of intense discussion and political posturing, a negotiated future trade agreement between the EU and the UK is very welcome. The major issues with respect to Ireland's trading and political relationship with the UK appear to have been largely settled in principle, but in practice the new regulatory constraints are fast becoming apparent.

I wish to acknowledge the work undertaken by our European offices and Government Departments which ensured the continued support of the European Commission for a fair resolution of the UK withdrawal agreement, particularly with respect to the implications of Brexit for Ireland. The UK has been for many years one of our largest trading partners and is our most accessible market, particularly for our agriculture and food sectors. The fact that the UK is now considered to be a third country has completely changed what was a frictionless trade relationship. In the area of food and agricultural exports, this poses the greatest risk in terms of a loss of competitiveness due to the increased regulation and transport costs being forced on the sector.

Our fishermen face a significant reduction in access and catch over the coming years in UK and EU fishing grounds. The Government must now liaise with the fishing sector in respect of financial assistance to offset future quota losses. I call on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to include Dunmore East as a designated port for UK-registered vessels to offload their catches. Dunmore East harbour has processing facilities on site as well as fisheries protection officers to provide the necessary oversight following inclusion on the list of approved landing ports in Ireland. This is needed to shorten landing times and reduce the carbon footprint of those vessels accessing southern fishing grounds.

As a consequence of delays in accessing the UK land bridge, exporters are now looking to new direct routes to the Continent. I welcome the additional services provided at Rosslare by DFDS and Stena Line. I also remind the Government that we have a very viable bulk port in the south east at Belview, Waterford. The potential exists here to develop rail freight from this port through a western rail corridor, and I hope to see capital investment in Irish Rail in the near future to achieve this strategic objective which would benefit so many business that require additional import and export options.

One of the new learnings that has come to light is the incredible amount of regulation governing the movement of agricultural base products to and from the UK. It is apparent that we do not have enough trained customs clearance agents. Furthermore, phytosanitary checks and origin certificates are causing major delays and imposing additional costs on Irish exporters. I have been informed that up to eight different software systems, which are not integrated, are now being used to develop documentation for food exports to the UK. These systems are not integrated with Revenue either. This is a perilous situation for our food and agricultural sectors. I urge the Government to convene immediately a specific task force to look at these issues and provide resolution. We have lauded our export performance for many years, and rightly so, but indigenous producers in this country cannot make up the ground that will be lost by a failure to resolve these logistical and clearance issues as soon as possible. The Government regularly reminds us that it does not create employment but rather sets the policies to assist market demand. These new constraints and restrictions have arisen as a result of policy changes, and we need to see Government agencies and Departments responding to these transport issues with appropriate urgency and attention.

The issue of Brexit contingency funding has also been raised by the Government, and many sectors will need support over the coming months to adapt to the new trading conditions. I hope that in framing its policy response, the Government will support the primary producers in our food, agricultural and manufacturing sectors who will, ultimately, pay the largest price in terms of this new policy implementation. Everyone who has been following the Brexit saga will feel, on balance, that Ireland's position has been vindicated and supported by our EU colleagues and that the agreement reached is probably as good as we could have hoped for given the political circumstances in the UK. The UK was and still is our biggest trading partner, and it is to be hoped that will continue to be the case as we learn to manage new ways of doing business and of progressing our relationship.

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