Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Senator Pippa Hackett):

I thank the Deputy for those comments. I accept what he is saying. It is not a terribly large cost if it is €3.5 million. Again, however, that business case has been submitted. I am not sure of the status of that. I can certainly bring that back to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue.

As the Deputy said, Cork Port is an incredibly busy and strategically important port for Ireland and for trade. I do not know, but there may be further opportunities for other temporary derogations in the meantime. Certainly, however, there is continued interaction between my Department and the Port of Cork. Taking into account of those considerations in terms of the impacts on other border control posts and the cost implications, etc., those engagements need to continue. It would be good to come to some sort of answer sooner rather than later. I have been informed that officials from my Department will gladly receive any new information that the Port of Cork may well have gathered that might feed into that business case consideration. I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue.

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