Ireland looks set to scrap a work-permit scheme introduced in 2015 for non-European fishery workers after a review ordered by government recommended a transition to regular employment permits given to other immigrants.
On 11 October, after a delay of seven months, the Irish government finally approved the publication of the Review of the Atypical Scheme for non-EEA Crew in the Irish Fishing Fleet. Three governmental departments – agriculture, enterprise, and justice – approved recommendations in the review to the employment of non-European Economic Area fishers in the Irish fishing fleet.
The Atypical Working Scheme (AWS) for non-EEA Crew in the Irish fishing fleet was established in 2015 to regularize the status of non-European workers on Irish fishing vessels. But Ireland has faced international scrutiny since the U.S. State Department downgraded the country’s ranking in its Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2021, specifically mentioning labor abuse in Ireland’s fishing industry as part of its rationale.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), a union representing fishers working at sea and on land, previously called for the elimination of the visa scheme. The ITF has claimed the scheme effectively indentures workers to their employers and has led to poor pay and working conditions, while not allowing workers the right to pursue Irish citizenship or the right to bring family members into the country.
Michael O’Brien, fisheries campaign lead for Ireland at the International Transport Workers’ Federation, said the government recently shifted its position on the issue, with Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Leo Varadkar, conceding “very serious exploitation” of migrant workers in the sector.
Varadkar was answering questions from a parliamentary committee as to why Ireland’s government hasn’t delivered on a promised legislative amendment to allow migrant fishermen access higher compensation payments from the Irish labor courts. The questions stemmed from an Irish Labour Court hearing in September 2022 that awarded EUR 14,000 (USD 13,800) to a fisherman named Jose Salandron, who brought a case against Ivan Wilde Ltd. for excessive working hours.
Cases can be taken by migrant fishers to the WRC– for adjudication of complaints on employment conditions, and to the Labour Court if either side appeals the WRC decision. Under Irish labor law, however, fishing laborers are not able to take cases concerning working hours, thus limiting the compensation they can claim, O’Brien said.
“The problem is that complaints related to excessive working hours and insufficient breaks and rest periods cannot be heard by the WRC or Labour Court,” said O’Brien, who has been pressuring the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, where Varadkar is minister, to honor a 2019 promise of an amendment to the Organisation of Working Time Act, which covers these offenses.