Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. In an ideal world, I would like to see a closer relationship between the EU and the UK. I am not sure that is possible for the foreseeable future but anything that would align our standards, such as a veterinary agreement or food standards agreement, would dramatically reduce the number of checks and controls necessary and would be very beneficial to our farmers and exporters.

The issue of vets is obviously a matter for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine but we talk about these things. The Department says it would have had enough people available. The Department would have had to use other staff, contractors and so on, but it says it was prepared for that.

On the issue of storage, I will have to look into the matter and give it some consideration. It has not crossed my desk yet but I can see why storage and stockpiling would be advisable whenever the new checks and controls come into place.

We have 24-hour, in-person support in place at Dublin Port to deal with any issues, ready-for-customs grants to help people scale up their in-house activity, webinars and online guidance.

We will also continue to meet with stakeholders regularly and to listen and engage through the Brexit business forum.

See this speech in context