Further to DETE’s major announcement in December 2023, the General Employment Permit (GEP) quotas for Meat Processing Operatives, Butchers/Deboners, Dairy Farm Assistant and Horticultural Workers are to be released today at 9:00am. The quota sees the release of 1000 GEPs for Meat Processing Operatives and Agricultural Workers respectively, and 350 GEPs for Butchers/Deboners and Dairy Farm Assistants respectively.
This is the first release of GEPs for Deboners since the quota of 300 GEPs of 2019 was extended by 500 permits in October 2021. This quota was filled in August 2023 and DETE stopped accepting applications. The Horticultural Workers quota was filled in late November 2023 and no permits have been available since.
It is expected that the quotas for Meat Processing Operatives and Butchers/Deboners will be filled in a matter of hours due to the large demand and high competition for such permits in Ireland. Many applications will also be submitted today for Dairy Farm Assistant and Horticultural Weeks, but these quotas are not usually depleted immediately and are expected to last at least a number of months before fulfillment.
A notice on DETE’s EPOS website added last week indicates that applications for permits in a quota will only be accepted from 9:00am on 14th February; those submitted before this time and date will be automatically rejected. DETE have also warned employers and agents that permits for any of the quota occupations must respect the new minimum pay thresholds and have carried out the correct advertising as part of the Labour Market Needs Test (LMNT). As of the government’s announcement in late December, the new minimum salary is €30,000.00 for Meat Processing Operatives and Horticultural Workers, and €34,000.00 for Butchers/Boners and Dairy Farm Assistants.
Figures released by DETE show that over 1600 employment permits were granted in the agriculture and food manufacturing sectors in 2023. Ireland’s thriving meat sector generates total yearly sales in excess of €4.5 billion and exports approximately €20 billion. The Irish beef sector new represents the fifth largest net beef exporter in the world, and the sheepmeat sector places as the fourth largest net exporter in the world and second in the EU.
VisaWork are experienced in submitting large volumes of GEPs for quotas and are looking forward to assisting our clients in taking full advantage of the available permits for the meat and agriculture industry. It’s key when dealing with a competitive quota that you have the skills of an experienced agent who can ensure that all applications are submitted without errors and on time, to ensure that you can get the number of permits needed.
More information regarding the quotas can be found at this link – https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/workplace-and-skills/employment-permits/latest-updates/.
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