The legalities around hiring foreign labour

The Teagasc report The People in Dairy Project launched last week outlines a plan for dealing with the staffing and training requirements needed to manage the expanding Irish dairy herd.

While the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) recently called on the Government to allow skilled workers from non-EU countries be allowed into Ireland to tackle the increasing workload on Irish farms, the Teagasc report does not specifically call for this.

Instead, it focuses on trying to upskill Irish people first to try and fill those jobs before looking elsewhere. The report also stresses the need to upskill farmers as employers and to improve working conditions on farms to make them more attractive places to work to an existing Irish workforce.

Labour shortage

That being said, it is acknowledged by all stakeholders that there is a shortage of skilled labour in the dairy industry in particular.

The Teagasc report looks at countries such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia for recommendations as to how to deal with the labour shortage across Irish farms.

Having personally visited dairy farms in New Zealand, Australia and Dubai, I noted first-hand the number of non-EEA nationals working on dairy farms from countries such as Brazil, the Philippines, India and Africa.

Is it time that people were targeted from these countries to address the labour shortage on Irish farms?

Right to work in Ireland

If you are from an EU member state or one of the countries of the European Economic Area (all 28 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) or Switzerland, you are entitled to come to work in Ireland.

However, if you are from outside these countries you generally need an employment permit.

Employment permits

There are currently nine different employment permits. The employment permits system is managed in part through the operation of the Highly Skilled Eligible Occupations List (HSEOL) and the Ineligible Categories of Employment List (ICEL).

Occupations not included on either list are considered eligible occupations for the general employment permit.

However, farmers, farm workers, horticultural trades and other agricultural and fishing trades not elsewhere classified on the list have been included on the ICEL list, ie ineligible categories of employment for a work permit.

Until these occupations have been removed from the list, persons from non-EEA countries applying for work permits for these occupations will not qualify for work permits and thus will not legally be able to come to Ireland to fulfil these roles.

Review of employment permits

The IFA recently made a submission to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation which has commenced a review of employment permits calling on them to remove farmers and farm workers and horticultural trades from the ICEL list. Until they are removed from this list, it is not feasible to expect non-EEA nationals to take up these roles on Irish farms.

The employment permits regime is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA migrants to fill skills shortages.

However, this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one.

An occupation may be considered for inclusion on the HSEOL or removal from the ICEL provided that:

So perhaps the objectives set out in the Teagasc report may first need to be achieved before the Economic Migration Policy Unit will make recommendations to the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to remove farmers and farm workers from the ICEL list.

Students and working holidays

A non-EEA national studying in Ireland on an approved course may take up casual work without an employment permit. The casual work must not exceed a maximum of 20 hours a week in term time and full-time during holidays.

The Third Level Graduate Scheme allows non-EEA students who have graduated on or after 1 January 2007 with a Level 7 degree to remain in Ireland for six months. Those with a degree at levels 8-10 can remain for 12 months.

Working holiday authorisations may be issued to nationals of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Argentina, Chile, Hong Kong, US, Taiwan and South Korea as part of a reciprocal agreement between these countries and Ireland.

Thus, if not already been considered, it might be worth exploring placement of Ag students from these countries in Ireland as part of their courses of study, just like many Irish Ag students spend stints in New Zealand as part of their courses of study.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is intended as a general guide only. While every care is taken to ensure accuracy of information contained in this article, Aisling Meehan, Agricultural Solicitors does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions howsoever arising. E-mail ameehan@farmersjournal.ie

Read more

Foreign labour and intensive courses to help meet jobs demand