Easing visa requirements to allow non-EU nationals to work on Irish farms to address labour shortages has been ruled out.

The Irish Farmers Journal can exclusively reveal that following a review by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation (DBEI), “no changes are being made” to either the Highly Skilled Eligible Occupations List (HSEOL) or the Ineligible Categories of Employment List (ICEL).

An expert group on the need of future skills in the country “has not indicated that agricultural workers are a shortage occupation”.

There is clearly severe information and communication deficit on this crucial issue at Government level

A submission was made by the IFA looking for the DBEI to make changes to the HSEOL and the ICEL to ease visa requirements for skilled farm workers from non-EU countries. This was aimed at addressing labour shortages in the dairy and horticulture sectors.

The proposal sought to make it easier to bring workers from countries such as New Zealand, South Africa and Australia to work on farms.

Education

However, the DBEI said it favours sourcing workers from within the EU as well as improving education structures.

“The State’s general policy is to promote the sourcing of labour and skills needs from within the workforce of the EU and other EEA states ... The education system plays a critical role in delivering many of those measures and any changes to the lists are made with due regard not only to their potential impacts on the resident labour market but also to upskilling and training that is in place.”

IFA president Joe Healy said he is frustrated by the decision not to facilitate non-EU workers getting a visa for Ireland.

“There is clearly severe information and communication deficit on this crucial issue at Government level,” Healy said.

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