Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is not a complete failure at ports. We all have a responsibility to try to address problems when they arise but not to exaggerate them for effect either. The Revenue Commissioners are working night and day with haulage companies, exporters and importers to try to help people adjust to the new system. This is a change we have been warning about for many months. Grant aid and advice have been made available and there have been hundreds of stakeholder engagements, and there continue to be with the Irish Road Haulage Association and many other sectors.

As I said, we are at a point where 80% of goods that come into Rosslare and Dublin are being green-laned successfully, without any delays or checks. It is the other 20% that we need to work with to help them adjust to the new systems. Of course, the Revenue Commissioners are adjusting, changing and improving their systems all the time, and are showing flexibility when they can. Introducing some kind of outside tsar will not improve the situation; instead we need continued consultation. These new systems have been in place for only a number of weeks. There was always going to be a difficult adjustment period to the new realities of the United Kingdom being outside of the customs union and the Single Market. That is what we are seeing. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders and hauliers to do everything we can to ease this transition.

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