Irish fruit farm Keelings has confirmed that it has flown a number of skilled seasonal workers into Ireland to pick crops over the coming weeks.
The Co. Dublin company has moved to assure that “no horticulture worker coming from another region will be asked to work without a full 14 days restricted movement”.
“Also that the workers had no medical examination or risk assessment when they landed. I have asked the Government to investigate,” deputy Toibín said in a tweet on the matter.
In a further update this afternoon, deputy Toibín claimed that another flight of workers is due to land in Dublin today.
‘Essential staff’
In a statement issued yesterday, Thursday, April 16, Keelings said:
“We can confirm that a number of skilled horticulture staff have returned to Ireland to work with Keelings. We are also recruiting for local workers to join us in picking our crops on the farm along with other roles in the Keelings business.
“It is essential that we have adequate staffing on the farm to pick crops quickly as they ripen, or we risk shortages in the market,” the farm’s statement said.
A very important part of our workforce for many years has been our skilled seasonal workers who return to us to help pick our fruit and manage our plant health.
“Without these seasonal workers it would be impossible to bring fresh Irish strawberries to the Irish market. We understand the concern in the current environment regarding both social distancing and local employment.”
The fruit company said it is “doing all we can to help support local employment at this time” and to ensure the safety of all its workers.
“We again want to assure people that no horticulture worker coming from another region will be asked to work without a full 14 days restricted movement,” the Keelings statement concluded.