Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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294. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of the UK to Ireland customs documentation that is handled electronically arising from the EU-UK free trade agreement; the amount handled by way of the presentation or use of paper documentation; if paper documentation is used, when is it planned to migrate to a purely electronic system of customs controls and checks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13214/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that Ireland’s customs import declaration system, Automated Import System (AIS) which was introduced in November 2020 and Ireland’s Automated Entry Processing (AEP) which processes both import and export declarations, use electronic data processing for managing customs declarations. In that regard, the customs import and export documentation required arising from the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement is managed electronically.

There are some other customs procedures that are scheduled for development over the next four years in line with the EU Commission development schedule which currently require a declarant to present paper-based declarations to Revenue e.g. using an ATA Carnet for the temporary admission of goods to Ireland. An ATA Carnet is an international document that cannot be submitted electronically, as yet, and must be presented to Customs to be stamped and validated. The volume of these declarations is very low.

There are also some occasions where there is a requirement for original supporting documentation to be authenticated by Revenue as part of an import or export e.g. an original certificate of origin. In these cases, the physical document may be requested. Again however, the volumes are very low.