Irish Sea border: The facts become clearer as £28 million running cost revealed - and checks increase

Tom Elliott has questioned the spending given the pressures on the public sector.

Meanwhile, TUV leader Jim Allister has uncovered an increase in checks on retail goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says legislation to remove green lane checks is coming within weeks.

The border costs were revealed by the DAERA minister Andrew Muir in response to a question from Mr Elliott – just days after the UUP peer Lord Empey uncovered a £192m budget to build the posts.

The Treasury gave three separate funding streams to Stormont’s agriculture department – two under the requirements of the original Northern Ireland Protocol and one for the Windsor Framework.

The framework has added to the cost of the Irish Sea border – with £4.7m allocated to meet additional staff costs associated with its implementation.

£13.8m was allocated to the operation and staffing of the “new permanent infrastructure at the four points of entry” from GB into NI.

The expected cost of “initial operational and staff costs” under the NI Protocol is £9.7m in the last financial year.

Staffing the border inspection posts overall cost £18.6m. Staff are employed as veterinary inspectors – alongside support workers – as part of the inspection regime. There are also finance, IT, legislative and support functions across DAERA.

The testing of animals and plants entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain cost £2.2m and the IT requirements of the Windsor Framework cost £1m.

Fermanagh MLA Tom Elliott has expressed concern at the costs. He said: “It was recently brought to light by Lord Reg Empey that the post-Brexit border inspection posts would cost up to a staggering £192 million. This is huge amount of money for border posts, especially when we had been told by fellow unionist politicians that there would be no Irish Sea border.

“However, it has recently come to my attention that there will be an additional cost of around £28.2 million for staff and operational costs and this will no doubt be a recurring annual cost. As it stands, this is a shocking sum of money to be investing in border posts when we are all aware of the financial pressures facing the public sector.”

Earlier this week, Ulster Unionist peer Lord Empey uncovered a £192m budget for building Irish Sea border posts - saying the frontier is “alive and kicking”.

Sir Reg told the News Letter: "Anybody who has the cheek to say that the border in the Irish Sea is gone needs to explain this colossal sum to the people of Northern Ireland. It’s a total lie”.

Border inspection posts are a key part of the special post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland. The Windsor Framework provided easements for certain sectors, particularly physical retail outlets.

Yesterday, the TUV leader Jim Allister revealed that over 12,000 checks were carried out on retail goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain in January of this year – up almost 6% from the previous year.

The North Antrim MLA said: "These figures very clearly establish that there has been no diminution of checks under either the Windsor Framework or the Donaldson Deal, despite the contrary promises in respect of both”.

In Friday’s News Letter, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “we will see soon further legislation being tabled in parliament, which will give the government the powers they need to direct our local authorities to end the checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and staying within the UK”.

Loyalist Jamie Bryson – once an ally of Sir Jeffrey in the anti-protocol cause – said Sir Jeffrey’s comments raise more questions than answers.

"Firstly he says legislation is coming in weeks, but he said a ‘week or two’ six weeks ago. Is this just a single transferable promise?

“Secondly how is there legislation in regards the green lane, when the DUP have told us ‘the green lane is gone’?

“Thirdly, Jeffrey speaks of more needing to be done to restore NI to the Union, but yet he claimed this had already been achieved?

“The core claims around the Surrendering the Union deal are falling apart by the day, and these issues aren’t going away.

“The DUP can’t just simply smudge their bold claims, they’re being held to every one of them”.