Good Morning,
With just 64 days to go until Brexit, we are starting to get down to brass tacks in relation to what life will look like when the UK leaves the EU.
The Revenue Commissioners will appear before the Oireachtas finance committee this morning and reveal it is accelerating the hiring of staff to prepare for the possibility of the UK crashing out without a deal.
Revenue chairman Niall Cody will say tax officials are also preparing for up to 18 million additional customs forms, a 12-fold increase. He will outline how the number of companies that will have to deal with customs after Brexit may surge from 17,000 to as much as 100,000 because they are dealing with the UK as a non-EU country, outside the customs union. Read our main story on this today here.
But after a week of he-said, she-said about whether there will or won’t be a hard border if there’s no-deal, Mr Cody can expect to be grilled about what exactly Revenue are doing to prepare for a hard border. The line of questioning may be particularly direct given this scenario is becoming increasingly more likely the longer the Brexit impasse continues.
Mr Cody is expected to say that Revenue is “not planning” for customs posts, in a similar vein to how the Government says it is not countenancing the return of border infrastructure.
But “not wanting” something doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.
How can the Revenue Commissioner's position be reconciled with the clear statements emerging from the EU about how checks would be needed if a divorce deal isn't thrashed out? Indeed, Lara Marlowe has a report on how the EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said that the EU "will have the obligation" to check goods travelling from Northern Ireland to the Republic if the dreaded hard Brexit materialises.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will be in Davos today rubbing shoulders with other political leaders. It's hard to believe that this time last year, an upbeat Varadkar was sitting down with Bloomberg in Switzerland and telling them that it was time to get "down and dirty" on the detail over Brexit.
At that time, he warned the UK about resiling from the backstop.
“We have an agreement, a set of commitments, that were reached in December,” he said.
“We fully expect them to be reflected in the legal text of the withdrawal treaty, and I don’t see why the UK would want to depart from what they agreed to in December in any way.”
You’d almost be forgiven for thinking it was 2018 all over again.
From a divorce deal to a marriage proposal
After months of speculation, Fianna Fáil will reveal today exactly what its intentions are with the SDLP. And it's looking like less of a marriage of convenience, and more like a casual liaison.
The leaders of Fianna Fáil and the SDLP will hold a joint press conference in Belfast to map out the future relationship between the two parties. Just don't call it a merger.
It is expected the “partnership” will involve a set of shared common objectives or policies, and a commitment that both parties will support each other. SDLP candidates are still expected to run under their own banner. But Fianna Fáil members and SDLP members can and will canvass for each other.
Lisa Chambers emphasised to BBC Radio Foyle it wasn't the kind of union some had imagined it to be: "We are not merging, it is a partnership. We will retain our distinct identities."
Some Fianna Fáil TDs seem quite happy with the decision to stay consciously uncoupled.
“We should be looking after ‘down here’ first. By all means, have the agreement. It is hard to know what can achieved in the North right now, at a time when Sinn Féin still have a stronghold,” one TD said last night. Trouble in paradise.
Best Reads
Here's Miriam Lord on the Brexit silence as party leaders donned their green jerseys.
Jack Power has a piece on how the Irish Red Cross threatened to take a legal injunction against a board member who resigned over financial concerns at the charity
Be sure to see No Child 2020, a new initiative by The Irish Times, providing a sustained focus on child welfare and children's issues over the coming year.
Sarah Burns reveals the cancellation of an event the Minister for Culture Josepha Madigan was due to speak at following concerns about protests.
Back in Brexit-land, Denis Staunton reports that Downing Street is ready to hold bilateral talks with Dublin on avoiding a hard border
Suzanne Lynch brings us this from the US as the White House backs the opposition leader in Venezuela.
Playbook
Dáil
The Minister for Communications Richard Bruton will take questions on his brief at 10.30am.
Leaders’ Questions will be taken at noon.
In Government business at 2.10pm there will be statements on the issue of directly elected mayors and what needs to be done next to make this a reality.
Topical Questions will be taken at 5pm.
The Dáil adjourns at 7.48pm.
Seanad
Commencement matters will be taken at 10.30am
Statements on progress around climate action will be taken at 12.45pm
Committees
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meets at 9am and will consider issues in relation to the remuneration of senior staff in certain higher level institutions.
The Finance Committee meets at 10am to discuss Brexit planning with the Revenue Commissioners.
