UK ⇆ Ireland Shipping Rates 2025

UK ⇆ ireland
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Air freight

We offer the most competitive rates for air freight to Dublin, ireland. Rates are available on a variety of carriers, with freighter links available for larger cargo.

London Heathrow to Dublin Airport (DUB)

• 50 kg   ￫ £90.00
• 100 kg ￫ £110.00
• 200 kg ￫ £170.00

* Documentation surcharge applies to any shipping to ireland.
* To obtain an accurate quote, please use our online quotation form provided.

Sea freight

Please contact us for our latest sea freight rates to Ireland.

Road freight to Dublin

DFS Worldwide offers trucking service from UK to ireland. We can offer you road service to Dublin or any other delivery address in Ireland for your commercial and personal goods.

• Transit time: 2 days
• Daily service

• Full Truck load to Dublin from DFS WORLDWIDE warehouse in TW14, UK: 
  GBP 1900.00
  
  
• Groupage service to Ireland from DFS WORLDWIDE warehouse in TW14, UK: 

Minimum	1 loading meter	2 loading meter	3 loading meter	4 loading meter
285.00 GBP	350 GBP	600.00 GBP	800.00 GBP	1050.00 GBP

Our shipping services to Ireland/Dublin

• Air freight charters
• Documentation
• Intl Communications
• ireland freight Insurance
• Secure warehousing
• Inland handling & transport
• Express vehicle shipping

Ireland trade and export guide

1. Ireland export overview

Ireland is the UK’s fifth largest export market and imports more from the UK than any other country. The UK accounts for 30% of imports into Ireland. In 2014, exports of goods and services from the UK to Ireland totalled £27.86 billion.

Ireland is the UK’s largest export market in food and drink, and second largest market in clothing, fashion and footwear. Trade in other sectors continues to grow. Two way trade stands over EUR 1 billion per week.

Ireland is an ideal first step market for UK companies.

Benefits for UK businesses exporting to Ireland include:

• English speaking
• same time zone
• strong transport links
• similar regulatory and legal framework
• ideal starter or test export market
• sophisticated consumer market
• open economy, used to imports
• good perception of the quality of British goods and services

Strengths of the Irish market include:

• strong bilateral trade between the 2 countries
• strong economic environment
• flexibility and range of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) representing 99.8% of active enterprises in Ireland
• 3 million British tourists visit Ireland every year
• highly educated workforce

2. Challenges doing business in Ireland

Doing business in Ireland is very similar to doing business in the UK. If your product or service is successful in the UK, there is a good chance you will be successful in Ireland.

However, there are certain challenges when doing business in or with Ireland that you should be aware of. These include:

• competition against a robust domestic market
• costs of doing business can be high

Direct debit mandates, Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services (BACS), Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and cheques are all widely used in Ireland. Standard payment terms are usually 30 days. However, average payment days currently stand at 55 days.

3. Growth potential

3.1 Economic growth

Ireland’s budget deficit, while steadily falling, will be about 4.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2014. Ireland remains on course to hit the ‘Stability and Growth Pact’ limit of below 3% by the end of 2015.

Although economic challenges remain, Ireland’s GDP is forecast to grow at 4.7% in 2016 by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Ireland hosts:

• 9 of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies
• 9 of the top 10 global software companies
• 12 of the top 15 medical device companies

3.2 Trade agreements

Ireland is a member of the European Union (EU), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other international bodies. Goods manufactured in the UK are exempt from import duties.

Contact the SOLVIT team if you have market access issues relating to the operation of the Single Market.

4. UK and Ireland trade

There are strong trade ties between both countries. The UK exported £18.37 billion in goods to Ireland in 2014.

The main exports by value are:

• fuel and lubricants
• manufactured articles
• machinery
• transport
• food and live animals
• chemicals

The top 10 UK export categories to Ireland in 2014 were:

• petroleum products and related materials
• miscellaneous manufactured articles
• gas, natural and manufactured
• articles of apparel and clothing accessories
• essential oils and perfume materials; toilet preparations etc
• road vehicles
• medicinal and pharmaceutical products
• manufactures of metals
• electrical machinery, appliances and electrical parts
• office machines and automatic data-processing machines

5. Opportunities for UK businesses in Ireland

Access all Irish public sector procurement opportunities via Etenders, the official Irish government procurement site.

There will be UK export opportunities for quality, competitively priced products and services, across all sectors in Ireland.

5.1 Agriculture and food and drink

The agri-food industry is an important sector of the domestic Irish economy, accounting for 7% of GDP and supporting around 150,000 jobs. A large number of well known indigenous and multinational agri-food companies have significant operations in Ireland.

Ireland imported more than £3 billion worth of food and drink goods from the UK in 2014. It is the UK’s largest export market for food and drink. By export value, the main sub sectors are:

• cereals and cereal preparations
• dairy products and birds’ eggs
• meat and meat preparations
• beverages
• coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures

5.2 Energy

Energy is one of Ireland’s main industrial sectors.

Ireland is focusing on the development of renewable energy sources. It aims to reach a 2020 target of generating 40% of energy with renewable energies, particularly by developing wind farms. Its strategic location provides a natural advantage for the generation of renewable energy in the areas of wind and wave power. There is ongoing public and private sector investment for wind, wave and solar energy.

There are also opportunities for biomass technologies.

5.3 Construction

Output in the industry has finally begun to recover, but the sector continues to face a number of challenges. The gross value of output recovered to EUR 11 billion in 2014 having reached its lowest value in 2012.

The Irish Government have announced a capital investment plan for 2016 to 2020 worth 42 billion Euros.

Transport will be allocated EUR 10 billion with the most high profile project entailing a new Dublin Metro North line to link Dublin central to the airport and Swords.

The Irish government has made significant financial commitments to a number of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects. These include projects for:

• 12 primary healthcare centres with a budgeted cost projected at EUR 115 million and expected maintenance contract time span of 25 years
• EUR 300 million Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) at Grangegormarn, the biggest ongoing educational construction project in western Europe with expected completion in 2017
• EUR 650 million National Children’s Hospital in Dublin, the largest and most complex capital investment healthcare project ever undertaken in Ireland with expected completion in 2025
• about EUR 1.77 billion to be invested in newly created Irish Water for the provision of water metering, upgrades and waste treatment

5.4 ICT

Ireland’s world renowned indigenous and multinational ICT sector has 9 of the world’s top 10 ICT companies located in market. These include firms involved in:

• hardware and software
• data centres
• cyber security
• mobile gaming
• social and digital media
• cloud computing

Companies with significant operations in Ireland include Intel, Microsoft, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google and Dropbox.

A potential benefit of selling to European headquarters of multinational firms in Ireland can be access to wider opportunities with their parent companies globally.

5.5 Life sciences

Ireland’s established indigenous and multinational life sciences sector has 9 of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical and 12 of the top 15 medical device companies. Ireland is the eighth largest pharmaceutical manufacturer globally and the second largest exporter of medical devices in Europe. These include firms involved in:

• diagnostic
• hospital and homecare products
• ophthalmic
• orthopaedic
• vascular
• contract research and development/manufacturing
• connected health
• services

Companies with major operations in Ireland are Abbott, GSK, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Takeda, Roche and Genzyme.

A potential benefit of selling to European headquarters of multinational firms in Ireland can be access to wider opportunities with their parent companies globally.

6. Start-up considerations

The Irish Citizens’ Information Board provides information on setting up a company in Ireland, together with other aspects of business in Ireland.

Other routes to market include:

• agent or commission agent
• importer
• distributor
• direct sales
• partnership
• joint venture
• tenders

7. Legal considerations

As a common law jurisdiction and a European Union member, Irish law closely mirrors UK law. However you should still seek professional legal advice.

The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation provides full details of start-up and sector specific regulations.

7.1 Standards and technical regulations

Products and packaging should meet EU standards.

Local standards and technical regulations may apply. You should seek legal advice or guidance from the appropriate regulatory agency in Ireland. These include the:

• National Standards Authority of Ireland which provides information on general certification and standards
• Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland provides details of regulations in the financial sector
• Commission for Energy Regulation
• Commission for Communications Regulation which provides details of regulations in the telecommunication sector
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Food Safety Authority of Ireland
• Health and Safety Authority of Ireland
• Irish Medicines Board which provides information on regulations for medicinal products
• National Consumer Agency which regulates on general consumer law

EU standards mostly apply with regard to packaging. However, dependant on the business sector there may be local considerations. You should check by:

• seeking appropriate legal advice
• consultation with relevant national agencies
• consulting the local Department for International Trade (DIT) team in Ireland

7.2 Intellectual Property (IP)

Trademarks, designs, patents and copyright are the principal forms of Intellectual Property (IP) protection available to companies and individuals.

IP law, especially for patent protection, is not totally harmonised within the EU.

The Irish Patents Office has responsibility for IP legislation in Ireland. You should seek professional legal advice with regard to issues around IP.

8. Tax and customs considerations

The Office of the Revenue Commissioners is responsible for tax and customs matters in Ireland.

8.1 Value Added Tax (VAT)

Most goods or services supplied in Ireland are subject to VAT. VAT is charged at a number of different rates. These include:

• standard rate at 23%
• 13.5% rate, applying to a number of labour intensive services
• 9% to tourism goods and services
• 4.8% to livestock
• 0% for services supplied in the public interest, eg foods, medicines, children’s clothes, childcare and education

8.2 Company tax

Ireland’s 12.5% corporate tax rate on trading income is one of the lowest ‘onshore’ statutory corporate tax rates in the world.

A tax rate of 25% applies to non-trading income (passive income) such as:

• investment income
• rental income
• net profits from foreign trades
• income from certain land dealings and oil, gas and mineral exploitations

The extent of a company’s liability to Irish corporation tax depends on its tax residence. Irish resident companies are liable to corporation tax on their worldwide income and capital gains. A company is tax resident in Ireland if its central management and control is located in Ireland, or it is incorporated in Ireland, but there are exceptions for certain Irish companies.

Companies not resident in Ireland, but with an Irish branch, are liable to corporation tax on:

• profits connected with the business of that branch
• any capital gains from the disposal of assets used by or held
• for the purposes of the branch in Ireland

Companies not resident in Ireland which do not have an Irish branch are potentially liable to:

• income tax on Irish source income
• capital gains tax from disposal of specified Irish assets, eg Irish land, buildings, certain Irish shares

8.3 Income tax

Income tax is generally chargeable on all income made in Ireland, and on income for services performed in Ireland. Tax on other income and gains depends on the residence and domicile of the individual.

The most common form of income tax is Pay As You Earn (PAYE), which is a salary withholding tax deducted by employers from an employee’s pay. People who are self-employed or receive income from non-PAYE sources use the self-assessment system.

Personal income tax rates depend on marital status.

There are a wide range of tax deductable expenses. These include pension contributions and tax credits, such as the employee credit.

8.4 Customs

The internal market of the European Union is a single market which allows the free movement of goods and services. Therefore, no import duties apply.

Information on customs and duties in Ireland is available from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners.