Work permits for up to 2,500 non-EU staff are being sought by the horticulture sector and meat processors as labour shortages across the food industry begin to really bite.

The requirement for additional workers in the horticulture industry is reported to have reached “crisis point”.

Meanwhile, meat factories are warning that they will struggle to handle the autumn flood of cattle at current staffing levels.

A combination of factors has contributed to the emerging difficulties.

A high proportion of workers returned home due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many of these have not returned to Ireland due to the travel restrictions.

In addition, workers are being enticed out of both meat processing and horticulture by the higher pay available in construction.

The high cost of housing and accommodation in Ireland is also a factor.

Companies continue to focus efforts on recruitment and retention but staff shortage has become a real issue

“A two-bedroom flat will cost up to €600 per month in any rural town or village at the moment. High accommodation costs are proving a major impediment to getting foreign staff at the moment,” one meat industry source said.

In a recent statement, Meat Industry Ireland (MII) confirmed that labour availability was a major concern in the processing sector, and that the situation was deteriorating.

“Companies continue to focus efforts on recruitment and retention but staff shortage has become a real issue and is challenging processing capacities,” said MII director, Cormac Healy.

“While we are in a relatively low throughput period at present, serious pressure exists to maintain processing capacities. There is real concern about processing capacity as we enter into the higher throughputs in autumn,” he added.

“Already, processors are having to make compromises at production level, opting out of more detailed cutting specifications, foregoing value-added production in order to maintain throughput, unable to harvest certain offals, etc,” Healy maintained.

We haven’t turned away cattle yet, but I can’t say that it won’t happen in October or November

These sentiments were echoed by others in the industry. “We’re somewhere between managing and struggling. I don’t think it is likely to get any better; in fact, it looks like it could get worse once cattle numbers start to increase next month,” one meat industry official said.

“We haven’t turned away cattle yet, but I can’t say that it won’t happen in October or November,” another source said.

“If the kill goes up, will we be in trouble? The simple answer is yes,” he added.

Britain

The meat industry’s problems are not unique to Ireland. Processors in Britain, the US and across the EU are facing similar challenges.

It is probably at its worst in Britain where workers from eastern EU countries are no longer arriving in the same numbers as they were while the UK was in the EU. Indeed, the post-Brexit exodus of EU workers has been exacerbated by COVID-19. There is no longer free movement of people from mainland EU to the UK, with the English language requirement for entry being a major barrier.

Freedom of movement isn’t an issue in Ireland

A further complication in Britain over recent weeks has been the increase of COVID-19 cases and consequent need for contacts to isolate. All of this has combined to make staff shortages a major issue for factories.

Freedom of movement isn’t an issue in Ireland, but Irish factories have long relied on a significant element of non-EU labour and the global travel restrictions have made sourcing and retaining this labour more difficult.

Horticulture

Other sectors of the economy are also facing serious labour shortages.

The IFA’s Niamh Brennan described the horticulture industry as being at “crisis point in terms of labour”.

The labour requirement is particularly severe for mushroom businesses, but workers are also needed to complete the soft fruit harvest.

“Labour is the number one constraint on the horticultural industry,” Brennan said. “The various agri-food strategies are looking at the expansion potential of the sector, but this will not be possible without alleviating the labour situation.”

The IFA official said there was an immediate requirement for 1,000 staff in the horticulture industry.

IFA has put forward a submission for the reopening of the work permit scheme with immediate effect for 1,000 permits

She said efforts to source these workers locally, such as through the Help2Harvest initiatives in 2020 and 2021, have had limited success despite grower engagement, and that workers will have to be brought in from outside the EU.

“IFA has put forward a submission for the reopening of the work permit scheme with immediate effect for 1,000 permits,” Brennan pointed out.

It is understood that 500 staff will be needed for the mushroom industry alone, with suggestions that Ukraine, Kosovo, Thailand and the Philippines have been targeted as potential sources for these workers.

“We could immediately take on 20 staff,” said Leslie Codd of Codd Mushrooms in Tullow, Co Carlow. We are 10% shy of staff, which is putting on pressure across the whole business.”

The PUP scheme is not helping either

While Mr Codd admitted that the loss of Eastern European workers who returned home due to COVID-19 had contributed to the current shortage of staff, he said the more immediate challenge was competition from other Irish businesses.

He pointed out that hotels and restaurants were competing with the likes of the horticulture sector for workers, as well as the construction industry.

“The PUP scheme is not helping either. I can understand why some people are not coming back into the workforce, but it has to be said that the PUP is not really helping our cause,” Codd said.

There is going to be no easy fix to this problem

The meat industry has not been as explicit as the horticulture sector in its labour permit requirements, but it understood to be in the hunt for at least 1,500 workers.

A senior meat factory official confirmed that the meat industry has also been in talks with the Government on the matter.

However, he admitted that bringing workers into the country at the moment, given the ongoing fears and sensitivities around COVID-19, was “tricky for everybody”.

“There is going to be no easy fix to this problem,” he said.

Karro

Staff shortages at the Karro pig factory in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, are causing delays for farmers getting pigs into the factory. Producers in Northern Ireland have alerted UFU to these delays while the Karro intake from Republic of Ireland suppliers has halved over the past three weeks.