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The cabinet will meet ahead of schedule and meet on Monday to discuss the Brexit deal reached on Christmas Eve.
It comes as leading political and industry figures warned that key sectors of the economy would face disruption despite the UK-European Union deal.
Navy Minister Charlie McConalogue said there was “no question” that the trade deal would have a negative impact on the fishing industry. While he welcomed the deal and said it had avoided the worst effects of a non-deal, he said it “will mean reductions in quota levels for some species from April.”
“The government is fully evaluating the outcome of the agreement from a fisheries perspective and is determined to ensure that the sector has full support,” he said. “Work on the full evaluation of the results will continue over the next few days.”
In the short term, fishermen will be able to continue fishing according to quotas in force from January 1 to the end of March.
Land bridge
Government sources said that while Covid-19 and the state’s vaccination program will likely be discussed on Monday, the main topic on the agenda would be the terms of the Brexit deal.
As different sectors continue to weigh the deal, Aidan Flynn, general manager of the Irish Freight Association, said the UK’s “land bridge” is “still compromised.”
Flynn said that while the first days of January were generally quiet, volumes would increase in January and February. “As they increase, the requirements to comply are going to cause delays, which, of course, concerns us.”
It comes as Boris Johnson has expressed confidence that even the toughest Brexiters among Conservative MPs would vote for the deal when it appears before the House of Commons on Wednesday. But his government has warned businesses and citizens to prepare for new bureaucratic hurdles from January 1 if they trade with or travel to the EU.
Johnson said he was not concerned about the verdict of a “star chamber” of lawyers appointed by the European Investigation Group (ERG) of conservative eurosceptics to study the text of the agreement.
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