Dr. Orlaigh Quinn:

The Senator is probably aware that we are carrying out a full review of employment permits. That review is due to be completed by the end of June. In the interim, because there was such pressure on the agriculture sector, we looked specifically at horticulture, meat processing and the dairy sector. The Minister made a change to the employment permit regulations to allow the agrifood sector to source workers from outside the European Union. There were 500 permits for horticultural workers, 250 for meat processor operatives and 50 for dairy farming. It was done on a pilot basis on the basis of a lot of interaction with the agriculture sector and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and using the evidence they provided for us. The amendment to the regulations introduced a new minimum remuneration threshold of €22,000 which was below the threshold for the normal permit but above the national minimum wage. We also required a commitment from employers that permit-holders would have access to suitable accommodation and training, including language training. We said we would look at the permit quotas again and allowing them to be retained if there was investment in innovative technologies. It is a tricky area because, on the one hand, we want to maintain the quality of the workforce and, on the other, we have sectors that are demanding labour. It is different from the case in the fisheries sector which comes under a different permit scheme run by the Department of Justice and Equality. We have inspected 95% of the fisheries sector from the workplace relations side. We have carried out inspections and there are a number of cases in which wrongdoing or breaches of the regulations have been found. Additional staff have been taken on. I do not have the figure with me-----