Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022
670. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is instructing his officials to make the necessary arrangements with their counterparts in other Departments to enable work permits to be issued to persons from countries outside of the European Union as is occurring in other industries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2890/22]
View answerArising from ongoing engagement with sector stakeholders, my Department is in regular contact with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) regarding the labour shortages that exist in certain sub-sectors of agri-food.
The Deputy will be aware that DETE has lead responsibility for this issue and late last year announced the outcome of the most recent review of the lists for permits with new quotas of 1,000 for Horticulture Operatives, 500 for Meat Deboners, 1,500 for Meat Processing Operatives, 100 for Dairy Farm Operatives and 100 for Work Riders.
This is one method for helping to fill labour shortages, but my view is that it should be considered as a last resort. In advance of this, the Department of Social Protection are involved in helping employers recruit from the domestic and European labour market, supplemented through initiatives such as ‘Help2Harvest’. Sectors also need to have appropriate labour attraction and retention policies in place.
The new Food Vision 2030 strategy includes a goal to “Attract and Nurture Diverse and Inclusive Talent” and this recommends five actions for the sector: employers in the agri-food industry will develop an education, skills and talent attraction and retention strategy; they will ensure decent work and address labour shortages; education and training programmes, including new apprenticeships, will be kept under review to ensure they respond to needs such as in the areas of environmental sustainability; they will promote and improve gender balance at all levels, but particularly at senior management and board level; and they will promote and develop initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion.
The Food Vision High Level Implementation Committee, which I chair, will provide leadership in progressing the missions and actions set out in the Food Vision strategy.
