The Government has said that 600 extra custom officials will be in place by the end of the year to deal with the fallout of Brexit.

A spokesperson for Tánaiste Simon Coveney said 409 trade facilitation officers will be in place by the end of March when Britain is scheduled to leave the EU.

A further 200 compliance officers will be in place by the end of the year, according to the spokesperson, who said this is "fully on profile with what Revenue says will be needed to manage a no-deal" Brexit. 

Earlier, Fianna Fail’s Michael McGrath criticised what he said was the Government’s lack of preparedness after learning that 230 new custom officials have so far been recruited.

Mr McGrath said this falls far short of the 600 that Revenue said would be needed in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Revenue chair Niall Cody told an Oireachtas Committee in January that the recruitment of 600 by January 2021 - as promised by the Government - should be accelerated and delivered "as soon as possible in 2019" in case of a no-deal Brexit.

Mr McGrath told RTÉ News: "What these figures show is that with just five weeks to go to Brexit, we have less than 40% of the actual number of extra customs officials that Revenue say they require in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

"So we cannot say that we are prepared or that we will be prepared given the amount of training that will be required to get these officials up to speed with the work that will potentially be involved.

"Revenue have confirmed that in the event of no-deal Brexit they will require an extra 600 customs officials. Currently, 230 have been hired.

"We know that there is a five-week training programme, at least, for those who come on stream. So as of now we have less than 40% of the number that Revenue say they need.

"The Government says it will get to 400 by the end of March but there is no way they will get to 600 and they certainly all won't be fully trained up.

"So we cannot say that we are prepared for the potential of the worst case scenario, which we hope won't happen, but the Government are not prepared."

Mr McGrath said this raises "very serious questions" about Revenue being able to fulfill its functions.

He said it and could cause significant problems in the flow of trade in the event of a no-deal, with major delays.