The Irish government recently announced a quota of 150 work permits as part of a new work permit scheme for immigrant fishery workers.
The plan is a “significant improvement” on the scheme it replaces, according to Michael O’Brien, head of the Fisheries Section at the Dublin offices of the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
The plan allows Irish fishing companies to hire workers from outside the European Union and the European Economic Area for a minimum salary of EUR 34,000 (USD 37,060) per year.
“Key improvements are the minimum salary of EUR 34,000 based on 1,872 hours per year [39 hours for 48 weeks], with the remaining four weeks being minimum statutory holidays,” O’Brien told SeafoodSource. “This compares well to the scrapped Atypical [Work Permit] scheme, which set a weekly working week of 39 hours paid at the national minimum wage.”
The Atypical Work Permit scheme was blamed by Irish unions and human rights groups for migrant labor exploitation and was also criticized by fishing companies for creating unwieldy layers of bureaucracy. It was scrapped in 2022.
The new permit scheme permits workers to change to another employer within the sector after nine months of labor and provides for a reactivation permit should a fisher feel compelled to leave the job because of abuses. The scheme also provides for a path to permanent residency in Ireland after five years of work.
O’Brien said he remains concerned about ...
