Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of veterinary officials that will be required at border inspection posts in Northern Ireland for trade from Great Britain; and how many of those veterinary officials have been recruited to date.

Decisions on the requirement for and recruitment of veterinary and other technical staff within Northern Ireland, including at points of entry from Great Britain, are for the Northern Ireland Executive. Defra continues to work closely with the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs on this and other aspects of implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. We are also taking steps to increase official certifier capacity in Great Britain in line with the requirements of the Northern Ireland Protocol. In addition to funding provided last year, we recently launched a £200,000 scheme to provide training for Official Veterinarians and £100,000 for Certification Support Officers.