There can be ‘no blinking whatsoever’ by EU negotiators when it comes to the Brexit endgame, a Dundalk TD has said, as new figures from the Revenue show that most export businesses in Louth have a customs number.

Sinn Féin’s Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú raised a number of Brexit-related issues in Leinster House recently. During a debate on Pre-European Council statements, he said: ‘We are being told this is coming down to governance, a level playing field and fishing rights. It looks like this is a game being played by a British Government seeking fishing rights on which it does not seem to have the capacity to follow through.

‘Whether we are talking about the withdrawal agreement or the possibility of a free trade agreement, this is about mitigating the worst aspects of Brexit. Some of that will be within our control but not all of it will be.

‘There is a belief that this British Government is literally playing games because approximately 45% of exports from Britain go to the European Union. It requires a deal as much as anybody else.

‘I could not say I could ever trust the British Government, and one could not trust this British Government in particular. We must ensure we can maintain the level of European solidarity and that there is no blinking whatsoever’.

He made the comments against the backdrop of the ‘renewed threat’ of the Internal Markets Bill and the possible introduction of a Finance Bill by the British Government, that could, Deputy Ó Murchú said, ‘undermine the Irish Protocol’.

Hauliers, he said, are also facing the vista of Dublin Port being clogged with freight traffic and lorries having to ‘drive around’ until there is space.

Deputy Ó Murchú also raised the issue of how the French port of Calais has not allowed for an exemption for Irish goods exported through the land bridge in Britain.

Tanáiste Leo Varadkar said he would meet the French minister for European Affairs at the weekend to discuss this and other issues.

Meanwhile, Minister Paschal Donohoe has revealed, following a parliamentary question from Deputy Ó Murchú that, according to Revenue, ‘1,374 businesses in Co. Louth are currently registered for customs and therefore have an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number’.

Revenue has also said that ‘94% of imports from and 99% of exports to the UK in 2019 undertaken by businesses in Co. Louth were undertaken by businesses that have an EORI number’.

In addition, the minister said that Revenue initially determined that it required 600 additional staff.

In the period between September 2018 and October 2019, Revenue assigned over 580 staff to Brexit related roles. Revenue recently re-assessed its requirements and determined that it will require approximately 300 staff in addition to the 600 already approved.

Revenue is currently recruiting and training these staff and that as an integrated tax and customs administration, it will deploy resources to quickly confront any risks as they emerge.

The Brexit brinkmanship from the British government has been compared to ‘playing poker with a guy who doesn’t keep the rules’, a Dundalk TD has told the Dáil.

Sinn Féin’s Ruairí Ó Murchú was speaking in Leinster House this week ahead of the proposed Internal Markets Bill was put before Westminster, which was described by the North’s Secretary of State Brandon Lewis as ‘a breach of international law in a specific and limited way’.

The Dundalk TD said: ‘It is unacceptable that we could have a British Government that is basically saying that it is OK for them to break international law.

‘It’s like playing poker with a guy who never keeps the rules.

‘We thought that this was the British Government setting a negotiating stance and then we had the news that Jonathan Jones, the head of the British Government legal team resigned in relation to this.

‘We need an answer in terms of what the EU and Irish Government is going to do’.

He said there was huge worry about what the British government intentions are, particularly in Dundalk.

The Louth deputy said: ‘We are worried that if they are willing to circumvent the Irish protocol and the Withdrawal Agreement, that we will have difficulties into the future.

‘People in border areas like Dundalk are very worried about what the future is going to hold, not just from a business point of view, but a societal one.

‘We do not want to see any sort of infrastructure or any sort of checks along the border. It’s utterly unacceptable given the history that we have, particularly in my area. 

Deputy Ó Murchú said he welcomed what Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney had to say about the government’s reaction to the situation.

He said: ‘I welcome what Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney has said about the anger of the government.

I also welcome his comments about the mitigations involved in the Withdrawal Agreement and in relation to the Irish Protocol regarding the single market and customs union,  in terms of business.

‘We do not need to impact on people’s lives and it’s unacceptable, that must be pointed out to the EU.

‘The Irish Government must remain firm. If we have a circumvention of the Irish Protocol and all that can come from that, and if we do not have those protections, it will be utterly unacceptable by the people that there will be any impositions in relation to border checks or infrastructure’.