Seasonal employment permits plan should be scrapped, says Oireachtas committee

Commitee advises that firms should use regular permit process to avoid possible exploitation of foreign workers

Minister for Enterprise, Varadkar had argued that seasonal work permits were also needed because they were already in operation in other EU countries Picture: Rollingnews

Leo Varadkar should scrap plans for seasonal employment permits, an Oireachtas committee has said, citing fears they could lead to worker exploitation.

The seasonal employment permits would allow agri-food firms to quickly hire workers for jobs such as fruit picking. However, the cross-party Oireachtas enterprise committee has called for them to be dropped from new legislation being brought forward by Varadkar. In a report on the proposed legislation, it said that firms should have to ...