Listen: concerns raised over meat factory work permits

Issues over the monitoring of non-EU work permits in meat factories has been raised in a joint committee on business, enterprise and innovation report.

“We learned about quite a few issues in relation to accommodation where it was meant to be provided and English classes were meant to be provided and this wasn’t always the case,” chair of the report Mary Butler TD said.

“So we made a strong recommendation that the Department of Business would finance the Workplace Relations Commission so they would have sufficient staff and resources to monitor this pilot scheme.”

No other issues

Butler said that no other issues had been raised and complemented overall worker treatment in factories.

“I was actually in contact with a guy who had a work permit and worked in Dawn and he had an issue when a member of his family was deceased in a foreign country and they [Dawn] were more than helpful to him.”

The workers’ union SIPTU also told the Irish Farmers Journal that they had some concerns in regard to the treatment of non-EU workers in meat plants.

Under the pilot scheme announced last year, the meat industry were awarded 1,500 work permits, of which almost 1,400 have now been used. It’s understood that Meat Industry Ireland (MII) will seek a significant increase in permits this year.

Compliance

In response to the concerns raised by the Oireachtas report, MII said its members were “complying with all requirements including the stipulations relating to accommodation and English language training”.

They added that evidence of this had been submitted to the relevant departments.

They also said that the availability of labour remains “at a critical level” and with the improvement in economies in Ireland and eastern Europe, more permits for non-EU permits were vital to the meat industry.