Responsibility for the island’s new border force may be better off being handed over to the police in future, says Justice and Home Affairs Minister Graham Cregeen.

The new agency is set to be ready to operate when the island’s borders are due to open on June 28, the minister told the House of Keys.

The border force will come under the umbrella of the Isle of Man Borders division of government, which will report to the Cabinet Office.

Isle of Man Borders’ functions will include the administration of travel notification, passport, immigration and nationality services and functions.

Asked whether responsibility for the border force should remain with the Cabinet Office in the long term, Mr Cregeen said: ’My personal opinion, into the future, would be that, as you will no longer possibly need the travel notification service there, it may sit better with the constabulary, but that would be a decision for Council of Ministers to take.’

The issue was raised initially by Ann Corlett (Douglas Central), who pointed to concerns aired previously by the police about combating drug importation.

She asked if the mechanisms for information sharing were in place to ensure the police were ready to deal with the impact after the borders open.

Mr Cregeen said it was possible that the police would seek funding for more officers in the future.

He said all MHKs shared concerns ’about the risks to our young people, especially when you see the increase of drug interceptions from the constabulary’.