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An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has weighed in on the Keelings debate, saying that while agriculture workers are essential, he had not “envisioned” hundreds of seasonal workers flying into the country.
No one expects the Taoiseach to have powers of prophecy but he could expect to be better briefed, considering his Department of Business had issued 500 permits to the horticulture sector long before the Keelings controversy for harvest 2020. These permits were for non-European Economic Area workers, not taking into account the traditional seasonal workforce from the EU.
Volunteer numbers dropped from 36,000 to less than 6,000 as they realised the full scale of work involved
Across the pond in England, producers are flying Romanian workers in after a call for a British “Land Army” fell flat. Volunteer numbers dropped from 36,000 to less than 6,000 as they realised the full scale of work involved.
Keelings accounts for 50% of Ireland’s strawberry crop and needs up to 900 seasonal workers.
By last Friday, it had received just 40 applications locally in Ireland and 150m strawberries can’t be picked through a Zoom call, no matter how good your internet speed or the recently unemployed Irish, it would appear.
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