Over the weekend it was revealed by Tony Connelly of RTÉ that Revenue has undertaken comprehensive and substantive work on the implications of Brexit on the future trading relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom. It was basically stated that there would be an enormous physical and economic impact on our country and on trade and that the impact on the customs infrastructure would be very significant indeed. There are 91,000 companies in this country that trade with the UK and that need to know this kind of thing: the bread and butter of what Brexit could look like. The people working at the coal face in Revenue have been doing this very commendable work indeed. Enormous paperwork will ensue and there will be enormous implications for human resources, physical space requirements and storage facilities for import and export. The Revenue report also makes some very strong points, including the very obvious one that once negotiations have been completed the UK will become a third country for customs purposes and the associated formalities will become unavoidable. While this will affect all member states, the effect will be more profound in Ireland as the only EU country with a land border with the UK. The report states that it would be particularly naive to believe that a new and extremely unique arrangement can be negotiated and applied to the EU-UK land frontier.

This report has, in essence, been buried by the Taoiseach and the Government. Fianna Fáil's Brexit spokesman, Deputy Donnelly, our finance spokesman, Deputy Michael McGrath, and Deputy Browne have each tabled numerous Parliamentary Questions regarding Revenue's work in this area. What kind of work has been undertaken? Have specific reports been published? On 11 September Deputy Donnelly asked the Minister for Finance "if his Department has conducted an assessment of the additional number of customs officials that may be required in the event of the UK leaving the customs union; and if will make a statement on the matter." Deputy Browne and Deputy Burton asked similar questions. There was no reference in the reply to these questions to any internal work undertaken by Revenue or to a report of this kind and magnitude. The Taoiseach's predecessor said that he would share this kind of information with party leaders and with the Oireachtas. I see no logic or rationale as to why this report was suppressed. Failing to share this with the Oireachtas and with the general public shows bad faith on the part of the Taoiseach and the Government. I see no rationale as to why it was buried in the manner that it was, other than the fact that it might be the kind of story and the kind of negativity that the Taoiseach did not want to get out. The Revenue report gives the harsh reality of what Brexit could be like and would have been of value to everybody if we could have got it in time. Why, after so many Parliamentary Questions, did the Government stonewall on this particular issue?

I read the report last week, or possibly on Monday, and I certainly did not suppress it. The report is from 2015 and was carried out before the referendum even happened. Much has changed since then, not least the commitment from the Government of the United Kingdom that there will no physical infrastructure on the Border, and the negotiating guidelines that we have agreed from the European Union. I can assure Deputy Martin that I did not suppress this report; I did not even know that it existed until last week or early this week. I have since read it and have no difficulty with it being published. There is nothing in it that should be of any surprise to anyone. It is a desktop analysis carried out by the Revenue Commissioners as to what may happen in the event of a hard Brexit, there being a hard border, Britain leaving the customs unions and Ireland being left unable to negotiate with Britain either a unique arrangement for Northern Ireland or a customs union partnership which would essentially replicate the customs union. What the report says should not surprise anyone. If no customs union partnership is agreed with the United Kingdom, if there are no special arrangements for Northern Ireland and if we end up with the hard Brexit that we are all working to avoid then this would produce exactly these results. It would result in enormous cost and enormous bureaucracy for business, along with customs posts, border guards, truck stops and all of the various things that we are working so hard to avoid. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. Nobody should be shocked at this. We have been talking about the consequences of a hard Brexit for years now. I have been to the border between the USA and Canada to see exactly what a hard border would mean. It has been our objective all along to prevent this happening and we have been very resistant to any defeatism from anyone, including the Opposition and its suggestion that a hard border is inevitable and that we should start preparing for it. It is one thing to carry out a desktop analysis as to what may happen in a certain scenario - this has been happening and I have told the Deputy this. It is a totally different thing for people to start preparing for a border that we are going to oppose tooth and nail.

First, this report has been updated six times. We know about it because of the work of Tony Connelly of RTÉ and not because of the Taoiseach or the Minister for Finance. Deputy Donnelly has asked the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, 19 parliamentary questions on issues relating to this. Is the Taoiseach seriously suggesting that he and the Minister for Finance knew nothing about it? On 11 September last, the Minister responded to a question tabled by Deputy Donnelly by saying he had been "informed by Revenue that at this juncture it is not possible to assess what additional resources would be required if the UK left the customs union". Is the Taoiseach seriously telling me that this response was transparent and truthful? We now know from the Revenue report that the implications of such a move would be deadly serious. Does the Taoiseach agree that the 91,000 Irish companies trading with the UK need to know about this kind of stuff? Does he agree that the general public, the small and medium-sized enterprises and the British traders need to know about it? They do need to know about this.

Is the Deputy not aware that we are talking about it every week?

The Taoiseach should stop saying disingenuously that this is no surprise.

This is fake outrage.

The reality is-----

This is nonsense.

The Minister told Deputy Donnelly that he would share this kind of information with him and with other representatives, but he did not do that in this instance.

We spoke about it yesterday.

I think I know the reason this was not done. The problem is that this report buries the political rhetoric we have heard from the Taoiseach and his colleagues for the last 12 months.

How? It does not.

Everything we have heard about a seamless or frictionless border has been buried by this report.

The Deputy is trying to create a problem that is not there.

It seems to me that certain people just did not want it out there. That is a problem.

This is all we have been talking about.

As far as I am concerned, the Government acted in bad faith.

The Deputy is trying to create a story where there is none.

It deliberately withheld information from the Dáil. Parliamentary questions that were asked were not properly and comprehensively answered as they should have been.

This report has been referred to dozens of times.

Maybe a few of the Minister's colleagues went to some Jesuitical colleges because the replies to which I refer were very Jesuitical indeed. I suggest such an approach was taken for a reason.

I have not seen six versions of any report. I have only seen one report.

It has been updated six times.

As I have said, I have no difficulty with it being published. The first time I saw it was a few days ago. To answer the Deputy's question, it does not say how many customs officials may be needed. It mentions a range of between 100% and 800%. These things are not necessarily calculable.

Could the Minister not have said what was in it?

I have to say I am a little disturbed by this level of outrage.

It is fake.

It does not seem genuine.

Absolutely.

Before and since the referendum, everyone has known exactly what would be meant by the consequences of a hard border on our island, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid.

We do not know that.

I have never spoken about invisible, frictionless or telepathic borders.

We have spoken about none.

I have always said that is not achievable. I have always said that there are no technical or information technology-based solutions to this. I have always said that the only solution to this problem is a political one.

Absolutely.

The political solution is that we continue to have a free trade agreement with the UK and-----

People need and deserve to know.

-----as I said in my speech in Belfast, the UK stays in the customs union. In the absence of such an arrangement, there should be a long transition period, as I also said in Belfast, or there should be a unique arrangement for Northern Ireland. I have always said that the solution to this problem is a political one, rather than a technical one. I am very confused by the position of Fianna Fáil, the republican party.

Today's position.

Is Fianna Fáil arguing that we should start training up border guards and getting dogs ready?

Would you stop?

Should we start checking out sites for border posts and truck stops?

This is more spin.

Is this what Fianna Fáil, the republican party, is actually advocating?

The Government should publish the report.

Of course we are doing desktop studies into what may happen under the many different scenarios that could arise from Brexit. We are not going to do what Fianna Fáil seems to be suggesting, which is-----

Lie down.

-----start preparing for something we are trying to prevent. We are not going to be hiring and training dogs. We are not going to be hiring customs officials. We are not going to be scoping out the Border for sites for truck stops.

The Government should publish the data.

Regardless of Fianna Fáil's demands that we should make such preparations, we will not do that.

Its position is very strange.

On a point of order-----

There is no provision for a point of order on Leaders' Questions. I call Deputy Adams.

I am making a basic point about parliamentary questions.

No. There is no point of order on Leaders' Questions.

Can I make a point to the Taoiseach-----

No, you cannot.

All we want is for the Taoiseach to publish the report.

Sorry, Deputy, resume your seat.

That is all we want.

Deputy Martin, you are being disorderly.

We just want reports to be published and questions to be answered. It is very simple. The Government should not be hiding the truth from the public.