The government has been urged to introduce strict limits on the deductions that employers can take from the wages of agricultural and horticulture seasonal workers for food, lodgings and transport, by a senator.
Senator Victor Boyhan has told the Seanad that he believes there is a general need to strengthen the rights of seasonal workers in Ireland.
The senator, who raised the issue in the Seanad this week, said seasonal workers are “critical” to agriculture and horticulture sectors because of the role they play in harvesting, planting and packing.
He also highlighted in the Seanad in the context of seasonal workers’ wages that the minimum wage had increased by 80 cent on January 1, 2023 to €11.30.
Seasonal agricultural wages
“That is not a lot of money to live on in these times.
“We can say that low-paid workers earning the minimum wage in the agriculture and horticulture industries are hurting disproportionately as a result of the cost-of-living crisis,” Senator Boyhan said.
In response to Senator Boyhan the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, said there is a real need for seasonal work permits from an industry perspective.
“Certain industries, such as horticulture, are seasonal by their nature and annual work permits do not work for them. They need that element of flexibility.
“As a state, we must ensure that when we provide that flexibility, it is good for business and our economy, and for keeping those businesses going at their time of need. We also need to ensure that in providing that flexibility we in no way marginalise people who may be vulnerable,” Minister Heydon told the Seanad.
He said there were safeguards in place to ensure there is no exploitation and that the system “works for the people receiving the permits, those who do the work, every bit as much as it works for the businesses for whom they are working”.
He also outlined to the Seanad that the new Employment Permits Bill, which is currently going through the Dáil, will also protect workers, some of whom, he said could be at risk of exploitation due to their inexperience with Irish labour law or because of possible language barriers.
This bill will result in the introduction of a seasonal employment permit in Ireland and stipulate additional conditions for the granting of an employment permit.
“A key objective of the seasonal employment permit is to provide workers for sectors that have recurrent short-term employment needs, but for which general employment permits are not suitable.
“The seasonal employment permit provides additional protections for permit holders,” Minister Heydon added.
He also outlined that under the new bill seasonal employment permit holders, such as agricultural workers, will be able to easily transfer their permit to another approved seasonal employer and will include strict limitations on deductions from wages for board and lodgings.
Minister Heydon added: “The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will trial a pilot seasonal employment permit scheme in the summer of 2024 in the fruit and vegetable picking sector with a limited number of permits.
“The department will carry out a review at the end of the growing season. This is much broader than that in the area of agriculture. I know that regarding dairy farmers in the calving season, there is a farm safety element. There is a shortage of labour and farmers need that support.”
According to the minister the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment also recently held a consultation with various stakeholders to get feedback on the introduction of the seasonal employment permit and the general transferability of most employment permits.