Micheál Martin pessimistic on EU free trade deal with UK

09/09/2020. NO FEE NO REPRO FEE. JULIEN BEHAL PHOTOGRAPHY.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he is no longer optimistic that a free trade deal with Britain is possible.

He was speaking after a “forthright” telephone conversation with British prime minister Boris Johnson, during which the Taoiseach articulated his “deep disappointment” at the events of this week.

Speaking in a television interview, Mr Martin said the actions of the British government in seeking to undermine the withdrawal agreement has eroded trust and created tensions around the talks between the EU and the UK.

“Clearly, the decision of the United Kingdom government to publish legislation that effectively seeks to undermine an international treaty, and the Northern Ireland protocol, which had already been agreed by the UK Government — negotiated by them, signed off by them, passed through their parliament — meant there was necessity really to articulate our deep disappointment at how all of this developed, and our overall opposition to this approach to negotiations,” said Mr Martin.

“In Europe, there's a lot of anger towards this and the manner in which this happened. In Ireland there clearly is, and I articulated that,” Mr Martin told Sky News.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that businesses will receive a €9,000 grant for each worker hired or redeployed to deal with customs changes in Ireland after Brexit.

The public has also been warned to expect changes to how they shop, no matter what the Brexit outcome.

Launching the Government’s updated action plan, the Taoiseach said that Brexit has no positive outcomes, and businesses must make sure they are now fully prepared.

“No matter what the outcome of the negotiations, anybody importing or exporting goods to or from Great Britain needs to prepare to deal with customs and regulatory checks,” he said.

Foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney said a “big national effort” is needed over the next three months to prepare for Brexit, and warned: “Brexit is for real this time, for businesses and for traders. This time, there is no extra time.”

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar announced the €9,000 grant for every employee hired or redeployed to enable businesses to build their capacity to manage Brexit customs changes.

Revenue will also be writing to tens of thousands of businesses in the coming days, urging them to get Brexit-ready.

It came as Mr Johnson’s government said it is willing to break international law on certain parts of the withdrawal agreement relating to Northern Ireland.

Mr Coveney warned that Northern Ireland is “too fragile and too important” to be used as a pawn by the British government.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the UK government’s plans to renege on parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement were “stupid and dangerous”.

She told the Dáil: “It is very clear that perfidious Albion is alive and well, and living at No. 10 Downing St.”

One Government source said: “The fundamental difference between deal and no deal is tariffs.

“The implication of that would be extremely serious, especially for the agri-food sector as the tariffs are high, but in terms of the actual checks at the port and borders, there is no difference.

“There are a lot of other unsavoury issues in specific sectors that may or may not differ, depending on whether there’s a deal.

“The core message is the checks will apply either way — but in a no-deal scenario, there will also be tariffs.”

These tariffs placed on suppliers would be added to the price of products, meaning Irish shoppers may have to pay more for everyday items coming from the UK.

Online shopping from the UK will also change from January 2, and will see similar customs fees to those which shoppers currently pay when ordering from the US — including customs duty and VAT. “There will be an additional charge, as is a standard practice from US and China,” a Government source said.

The Government is keen to stress that “trade will change” for importing and exporting with the UK, and have released a number of support packages, with a specific focus on customs training, ensuring that businesses can either directly complete their own declarations, or engage with customs agents.

Micro enterprises, in particular, are encouraged to work with local enterprise offices, who will be running a series of customised training programmes.