Meat factories are to double their lower-paid, non-EU workforce after securing an additional 750 work permits. In May 2018, factories were given 250 permits under a pilot scheme by the Department of Business. This was increased to 750 in August, with all permits used up by December.
Meat factories are to double their lower-paid, non-EU workforce after securing an additional 750 work permits.
In May 2018, factories were given 250 permits under a pilot scheme by the Department of Business. This was increased to 750 in August, with all permits used up by December.
For 2019 factories will have 1,500 permits, which represents 10% of their workforce.
To date, 911 of those permits have been issued, with Dawn, ABP and Kepak taking the bulk.
Strategic priorities
The Department of Business told the Irish Farmers Journal that Minister Heather Humphreys was conscious that high-priority meat exports continued to rise and they should not be jeopardised by labour shortages.
However, Minister Humphreys has written to Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed, saying factories must put longer-term solutions in place to deal with labour shortages.
These include sourcing European Union workers, as well as investing in some new technologies.
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