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Brexit Preparations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 December 2020

Thursday, 17 December 2020

Questions (114)

Aindrias Moynihan

Question:

114. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures being undertaken to identify and make contact with SMEs that have yet to engage with the Revenue Commissioners to register their companies in the event of a no-deal Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43921/20]

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Written answers

In order to continue to trade with the UK (excluding Northern Ireland) from 1 January 2021, all businesses large and small, must register with Revenue for an Economic Operators' Registration and Identification number (EORI). This is a basic requirement regardless as to whether a trade agreement is reached between the EU and the UK or not.

This number is valid throughout the EU and businesses can register for an EORI number through the Revenue website using their own Revenue Online Service (ROS) account. The process is a quick and simple one.

Government has been promoting this important message to all businesses, including SMEs for some time through direct engagement, various events, advertisements on TV, radio and print media advertisements on a national and regional basis and on social media.

In October 2020, I wrote to all 225,000 registered businesses on the Companies Registration Office Register, the majority of which are SMEs, to urge them to get Brexit ready. I included the revised Brexit Readiness Checklist, developed by my Department, which sets out the necessity of an EORI number and includes the contact details of the Revenue Commissioners for further information.

I have also promoted the requirement to obtain an EORI number through my regular engagement with business representative groups and bodies through the Enterprise Forum on Brexit and Global Challenges and, along with the Revenue Commissioners, have been monitoring the uptake.

In addition, the Agencies affiliated to my Department, such as Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices, have promoted this important message through their own online customs courses and customs workshops. Recent customs specific webinars, conducted by Enterprise Ireland at which all critical actions were discussed and explained, are available to purview on its website at https://www.prepareforbrexit.com/webinar/

The Revenue Commissioners have continuously promoted this important message, most recently through its webinar events that are all available to view at www.revenue.ie/Brexit. In addition, in September, Revenue wrote to approximately 90,000 businesses that currently trade with the UK setting out the critical steps that they need to take which included registering for customs. These letters were followed up by phone calls in order to guide businesses through the registration process. Revenue report that the number of registrations for EORI numbers have increased and Government will continue to push out this message for the remainder of 2020.

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