The report found undocumented Ghanaian, Filipino, Egyptian and Indian fishermen were being brought into the Republic via Britain. The then-minister for agriculture, food and the marine Simon Coveney set up on interdepartmental task force to examine the treatment of migrant fishers following the report. The agreement comes after proceedings were taken by the ITF against the Government over the work permit scheme which it said was allowing fishermen to be exploited and was akin to “modern slavery”. The court heard that non-EEA fishermen worked on average 116 hours per week but paid an average of €2.83 per hour. The Government has also committed to ratify the EU Directive 2017-159 by November 15th which regulates the maximum number of hours, minimum hours of rest and manning requirements aboard commercial fishing vessels.

Source: The Irish Times April 30, 2019 21:27 UTC