Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021
1132. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of calls that have been made to his Department's Brexit helpline for stakeholders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1112/21]
View answer1133. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of calls that have been made to his Department's Brexit helpline for border control posts at Dublin Port; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1113/21]
View answer1134. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of calls that have been made to his Department's Brexit helpline for border control posts at Dublin Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1114/21]
View answer1135. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of calls that have been made to his Department's Brexit helpline for border control posts at Rosslare Port; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1115/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1132 to 1135, inclusive, together.
My Department's dedicated Brexit call line is in operation on a 24-hour basis by phone, seven days a week, since Monday 28 December. Prior to then, it had been operational from Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 7 pm.
This was set up as an advice line for stakeholders in the agrifood sector to answer a broad range of Brexit-related queries. As of the close of business on Friday 8 January, staff in the Call Centre dealt with 83 phone queries and 75 queries by email since 28th December. Since mid-November, the helpline had been receiving an average of 45 calls a week.
Separately, on 28 December 2020, the Department published contact details and opening hours for its Border Control Posts (Dublin Port, Rosslare Port, Dublin Airport). Importers have been encouraged to contact those numbers directly if they have a query in relation to a specific consignment. However, the main function of these BCPs is to carry out the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) checks (Import controls) that apply on agrifood trade coming from third countries, including Great Britain.
