Foreign worker plans curbed by Irish turkey producer

The largest turkey producer in the Irish Republic has relented to pressure over its attempt to bring in pluckers from Estonia in the run-up to Christmas, and will hire a significant number of domestic workers too.

Grove Farm, based in County Monaghan, now plans to hire around 180 locals, with priority for 75 workers who were laid off less than a year ago.

The company will still hire 50 pluckers from Estonia, with Grove Farm’s managing director Thomas O’Driscoll pointing out the Estonian workers had been coming to the plant for the past 10 years and this year’s number was less than one third of those used last year.

“They are being hired because they have built up specialist skills, not because they are cheaper,” he said.

Minimum wage in Ireland is one of the most generous in the EU, at €8.65/hour, and has long been a source of complaint by the industry. But Mr O’Driscoll insisted that all workers would get the same rates of pay, “whether they come from Estonia or Monaghan”.

Critics of the plan to import workers included the member of parliament for the area, Caoimhghin O’Caolain lobbied for all job vacancies to be filled locally due to Ireland’s high unemployment rate, currently around 14%.