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BUSINESSES must now “grab the Brexit bull by the horns” and speed up plans for a crash-out Brexit, Business Minister Heather Humphreys warned.
“A crash-out is less than nine weeks away,” she starkly acknowledged. “Against this backdrop, I’m appealing to you to act now to protect your businesses and employees.”
She was speaking alongside Keelings Fruit chief executive Caroline Keeling, who said her company had spent years preparing for Brexit with help from Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland.
They spoke inside the Keelings Farm Shop, where the fruits on sale vividly illustrated the dependence of Irish food firms on the UK “land bridge”.
Ms Keeling told the Irish Independent most food sold in winter is imported – and at least 70pc arrives via Britain.
There has been sharp focus on supply chains for food and other produce as the threat of a hard Brexit looms.
The Irish Independent yesterday reported on the Freight Transport Association of Ireland warning of “absolute chaos” with the threat of some supermarket shelves running bare within two days of a hard Brexit.
Retail Ireland director Thomas Burke yesterday said producers, distributors and grocers were focused on minimising food-supply bottlenecks following Brexit.
But he conceded: “We’re in uncharted territory. A crash-out Brexit is the worst possible outcome.”
When asked if he was confident that no grocery shelves would be bare within
two days of a hard Brexit, Mr Burke said: “I don’t think anyone could say that. But I don’t think there will massive loads of empty shelves either.
“No one can say they are 100pc prepared for Brexit because we don’t even know what Brexit looks like yet.”
Mr Burke said he expected grocers to stockpile products in the run-up to October 31.
“Companies are building their inventories... We do need extra storage space. There’s no doubt about that, given we will face longer supply chains after Brexit. But that’s a capital infrastructure project and not likely to happen soon.
“Certain products may run out or become too difficult to stock. But retailers know what the products at greatest risk are, and are looking at alternative supply chains.”
Agriculture and food expert Richard Hackett added: “We depend an awful lot on the UK for our basic food stuffs, such as potatoes and other vegetables and fruits. We also bring in 180,000 tonnes of flour a year for things like bread, cakes and pizzas.
“In the event of a no-deal Brexit, it will cause an awful lot of disruption for us.”