Migrant workers for pork processing factories are expected to arrive in the UK under a new visa scheme from next month, according to NI Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots.

At Stormont on Monday, Minister Poots said “considerable numbers of people” from outside the EU were available to fill roles in UK abattoirs.

The minister gave the example of migrant workers from the Philippines, and he said the UK government was making progress with rolling out a new temporary visa scheme for 800 pork butchers.

“We hope to get a reasonable number of those people through for December, which will help to alleviate some of the pressures on our food processing sector,” he said.