The Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture have told the Irish Farmers Journal there have been no reported outbreaks of coronavirus in the horticulture or fruit picking industry.

There was widespread controversy when well-known berry grower Keelings flew 189 fruit pickers in from Bulgaria in April.

Although the workers had undergone health checks before leaving Bulgaria, there were still concerns that they could spread the virus.

At the time, Keelings said recruiting workers from overseas was necessary and it had just 40 local applicants when up to 900 were required for the fruit season.

HSE protocol

The company followed HSE protocol at the time but then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar weighed in on the Keelings debate, saying that while agriculture workers were essential, he had not “envisioned” hundreds of seasonal workers flying into the country.

The horticulture industry has traditionally found it difficult to attract local workers and the Department of Business awarded the sector 500 permits for non-EEA workers – all of which have been filled.

The UK horticulture sector also relies heavily on foreign labour and its government set up a Pick for Britain scheme to attract local fruit pickers during the pandemic. However, the scheme had a similarly low take-up rate.

Scheme

Some 704 candidates were referred from Jobseekers by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to take part in a new recruitment scheme for local fruit pickers but the Department said “early feedback” indicated that just 106 candidates were “actively engaging” with employers.

“Some of these employers are, as yet, in the early stages of recruitment - we would hope these figures will improve in the coming weeks,” the Department said.

“Most of these employers are based on the east coast of Ireland and many locations can be quite inaccessible to public transport.”

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