New Enterprise Ireland "Ready for Customs" grant available

• Up to €9,000 in funding for each new employee engaged in customs work
• The grant also covers costs associated with redeploying an existing member of staff.
• Business urged to act now to be ready for major customs challenge
• Failure to act could damage important customer relationships

A new ‘Ready for Customs’ grant was opened today by Enterprise Ireland, as part of the Government’s Brexit Readiness Action Plan.

The €20m fund provides grant support for each new employee taken on in a customs role within a company. Up to €9,000 is available for each full-time employee hired.

According to Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland: “The ‘Ready for Customs’ grant is one of a range of business supports the Government outlined today as part of Ireland’s Brexit Readiness Action Plan. This new grant provides companies with financial assistance to cover the costs of taking on much needed additional customs clearance staff, which will be needed when Brexit becomes a reality on the 1st January 2021.

“Research indicates that insufficient customs clearance capacity is a significant risk for Irish enterprises. Business needs to act now to build capacity and this grant will assist them meet the challenge that will become very real on 1st January next. My clear message is don’t wait – take action now.

“A grant of up to €9,000 for each new full-time employee taken on in a customs role over the coming months is available.”

If an existing employee is redeployed the grant can also be used to cover those costs.

“The Revenue Commissioners estimate that the number of customs declarations will increase from 1.7m a year to 20m in 2021, requiring approximately 2,000 additional staff to process them. There is currently not enough customs clearance capacity in Irish businesses. This is a real risk, that could ultimately damage valuable relationships with UK customers.

“The Ready for Customs grant is time limited and I would urge every Irish company, logistics firm or customs intermediary involved in trading with the UK, to apply for this grant through Enterprise Ireland today.”