Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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166. To ask the Minister for Finance the proportion of goods entering here from outside the EU that are physically checked on entry that is red; the proportion of goods that are electronically checked and recorded that are orange; and the proportion of goods permitted entry that are green; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39412/18]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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168. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of custom officials that are operational; the number that will be operational on 29 March 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39414/18]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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169. To ask the Minister for Finance if the information technology system used by customs officials to track goods imported from outside the EU has the capacity to deal with goods imported from Northern Ireland and Britain; the investment required to increase its capability if required; if this will be in place on 29 March 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39415/18]

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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173. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 60 of 19 September 2018, if his attention has been drawn to research being carried out by officials in Northern Ireland with regard to imports that arrive into Dublin Port and are subsequently transferred to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39539/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 166, 168, 169 and 173 together.

I am advised by Revenue that as it operates as a fully integrated tax and customs administration, it is not possible to disaggregate resources deployed exclusively at any given time on customs work. Revenue currently has over 2,000 operational staff engaged on activities that are dedicated to targeting and confronting non-compliance including activities related to anti-smuggling and anti-evasion, investigation and prosecution, audit, assurance checks, anti-avoidance, returns compliance and debt collection and recovery.

Revenue expect that they will require an additional 600 staff because of Brexit, based on a scenario of a transition period after March 2019 and a future trade agreement between the EU and UK. A recruitment campaign has commenced with a view to having an additional 200 officers trained and in place before 29 March 2019.

I am advised by Revenue that in relation to the operation of customs procedures for the movement of goods, a key objective for them is to facilitate legitimate trade to move as speedily and efficiently as possible. In that context and having regard to the provisions of the Union Customs Code, Revenue encourages businesses to avail fully of relevant simplifications and procedures available under the Code. The Code, which came into operation from 1 May 2016, aims to, inter alia, allows traders to clear customs procedures more simply and quickly, getting goods to consumers faster and more cheaply.

The level of import checks reflects the use of electronic risk analysis for declarations lodged in advance of the arrival of goods and is supported by post-clearance checks, including customs audits, which are carried out at traders' premises.

I am advised by Revenue that in 2017, 92% of import declarations received a Green routing and immediate release from Customs. 6% of import declarations were routed Orange and subjected to documentary checks while 2% received a Red routing and required to be physically examined. Revenue advise me that there are a number of different IT systems used by Customs officials to deliver on Revenue’s objective to facilitate legitimate trade to move as speedily and efficiently as possible and to monitor and control, on a risk focused basis, goods imported from outside the EU. The capacity of these systems has been significantly increased in order to deal with the expected growth in the number of transactions post Brexit. Performance testing of the systems is ongoing and will be completed in advance of 29 March 2019. The total investment to date is €1.32m which covers the cost of additional servers and the required development, tuning and testing of existing functionality.

The research referenced about imports to Northern Ireland via Dublin port is based on a survey conducted by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. I am advised by Revenue that it is likely that the clear majority of goods arriving into Dublin Port and subsequently transferred to Northern Ireland are from another EU Member State. As a result, the level of information collected through trader returns, and therefore the data available for analysis, is limited. In respect of third country trade detailed returns (“SADS”) are required and for intra-EU trade a customs declaration is not required. Revenue does collect information in relation to intra-EU trade via the VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) but this does not record detailed information of the consignment or final recipient that would be required to conduct comparable analysis for ports in the Republic.