Smuggling fears if hard ‘Brexit’ imposed

Fears of an increase in cross border smuggling if a hard Brexit is imposed emerged this week.

Louth TD Declan Breathach raised concerns following a warning by the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Mr David Sterling, who said that there will be an ‘upsurge in smuggling’ and resulting damage to law-abiding firms in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

‘For many years, smuggling proved to be a major enterprise for criminals along the border counties. Such is the scale of smuggling that retail jobs have been lost and local retailers have been forced out of business.,’ said Deputy Breathnach.

‘ The problem has always existed, with nine out of ten border retailers believing that the trade of smuggled goods impacts their profits by 5-10%, however with Brexit fast approaching; the problem will only get worse,’ Deputy Breathnach said.

‘ The head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service has expressed his serious reservations that that even if both the UK and Irish authorities do not impose checks at the border, which they have said they won’t, businesses would still face new legal obligations particularly in relation to customs. ‘

He added: ‘ This would likely lead to an increase in the scale and significance of smuggling and organised crime.’

‘Given that we are facing the real prospect of a no-deal Brexit; this represents a colossal disturbance to the Irish economy. The Government must immediately seek approval at EU level for current State aid rules to be adapted for a temporary period; even at this late stage it would make a huge difference to small and medium businesses that need every effort to be made to secure support for them to protect them from a hard Brexit.

‘It represents just one way in which the Government could provide border SME’s a modicum of support,’ concluded Deputy Breathnach.