By Michelle Devane, PA
Shelves in shops in the Republic will continue to empty post-Brexit because of the need to complete hours of customs paperwork, the Dáil has heard.
Independent TD Verona Murphy said there has been âutter disruptionâ in the supply chain since the end of the transition period, with truck drivers being stuck in ports for up to five days.
The former head of the Irish Road Haulage Association warned further jobs will be lost in the coming weeks and the consumer was set to pay the price in their shopping basket if the situation continues.
Around 30 per cent of goods moving from Britain to Dublin are being held back over issues around documentation, with some requiring further checks, Irish officials have said.
Irish customs authorities deny they are holding up goods supplies entering the Republic from Great Britain, blaming companies for failing to fill in the paperwork.
Serious difficulties around the transport of goods between Britain and Ireland are threatening to bring the haulage sector to its knees, Wexford TD, Verona Murphy, has warned.
A combination of complicated customs documentation, system overbookings, delays in getting trucks back out of Britain, and insufficient capacity on the direct ferry routes from Ireland to the Continent is steadily choking the country’s export capability, deputy Murphy claimed.
She pointed out that 54 trucks had failed to make it onto ferries leaving Rosslare for the Continent last Friday, with many lorries left stranded in the Wexford port over the weekend – 25 were taken on a Saturday sailing, while the remaining 29 trucks were not taken until Monday night.