Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Ireland (Ratification: 1931)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Ireland (Ratification: 2019)

The Committee welcomes the ratification by Ireland of the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. Noting that the first report of the Government has not been received, the Committee hopes that the Government will provide detailed information on the application of the Protocol, in accordance with the report form adopted by the Governing Body.

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. 1. Vulnerability of migrant workers in the fishing sector to practices of forced labour and trafficking. (a) Assessment of the Atypical Migrant Working Scheme for the Non-European Economic Area (EEA) Crew (AWS). The Committee previously noted the information from the Government and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) in relation to the functioning of the Atypical Migrant Working Scheme for the Non-European Economic Area (EEA) Crew (AWS) which regulates the employment of non-EEA migrant workers in the fishing sector in Ireland. It noted measures to protect non-EEA fishers under the AWS, including (i) the obligation to provide a contract of employment certified by a practising solicitor and in their native language, (ii) the possibility to transfer employment without the employer’s consent and (iii) to follow-up on cases of fishers who have left their employment before the end of their contract.

The Government indicates that the AWS is administered by the Department of Justice to grant immigration permissions for a small number of specific occupations and employments that do not fall as eligible under the employment permits legislation. It reports that in 2021, 77 individuals were granted AWS fisher permissions, and 157 were granted renewal of permissions, including 18 migrant fishers who changed employer. To date, in 2022, 48 individuals were granted AWS fisher permissions, and 63 were granted renewal of permissions, including seven migrant fishers who have changed employer. In total, since the launch of the AWS for non-EEA fishers in February 2016, until 1 October 2021, 429 permissions have been issued, including nationals from the Philippines, Egypt, Ghana and Indonesia.

The Government adds that it reiterates its concerns about the assumptions made regarding the State’s fisheries sector, and that a review of the AWS for non-EEA fishers has recently been undertaken, to determine whether the Scheme should be continued in its current form or modified and whether there is a more appropriate mechanism for the employment of non-EEA workers on eligible vessels. Stakeholders involved included relevant Government Departments, solicitors representing applicants, and the ITF. The Committee notes that in its report published in March 2022 the review group recommended that the employment of non-EEA crew in the Irish Fishing Fleet should be provided for under the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s (DETE) employment permits system instead of the AWS. It further recommended that any AWS Fisher with a current immigration permission, and who wishes to do so, have their existing immigration permission extended for a period of time, to be agreed by the relevant Departments, to allow them to remain in the State to apply for an employment permit under the DETE’s employment permit scheme and receive a decision on that application The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the steps taken in relation to the implementation of the review group’s recommendations as well as on measures to prevent migrant workers in the fishing sector from being victims of trafficking in persons or any abusive conditions of work that could amount to forced labour. In the meantime, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the practical application of the AWS for non-EEA fishers, including the number of permissions granted, renewed, and of migrant fishers who have changed employer.

(b) Inspections and identification of victims. In relation to the inspections conducted and the measures taken to identify and protect potential victims of trafficking for labour exploitation in the fishing industry, the Government indicates that a high level of inspection is in place in the fishing industry and that the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has secured compensation in cases of labour exploitation. From February 2016 to May 2022, 382 contraventions were recorded, and 245 investigations were carried out and closed, of which 20 resulted in prosecutions, which occur when vessel owners fail to rectify contraventions and/or to pay unpaid wages or employ fishers without permission to work. Contraventions detected from 2019 to date relate to: the employment of fishers without permission (20 per cent of contraventions), working hours and rest regulations (20 per cent of contraventions), the national minimum wage (11 per cent of contraventions), as well as unauthorised deductions, failure to keep records and issue payslips and employment contracts (20 per cent of contraventions). Currently, 35 investigations are underway. The Government also indicates that 84 inspections of fishing vessels have been undertaken by WRC Inspectors in 2019, 33 in 2020, 49 in 2021, and 21 from the beginning of 2022 to the end of May. The Government further states that the WRC administers an adjudication system that hears and decides on complaints, grievances and disputes submitted by employees alleging violations of labour laws. From January 2016 to May 2022, 283 complaints involving 30 migrant fishers were received for adjudication by the WRC. The complaints included issues relating to minimum wage, weekly and daily rest, public holiday entitlement, paid annual leave, breaks, and hours of work. Compensation was awarded to fishers whose complaints were upheld, including for unpaid wages. The Government also states that a number of information and awareness measures have been introduced to enhance employment rights awareness and compliance in the fishing industry, including : (i) the publication in March 2022 by the WRC of a Fishing vessel Owners Employers Guide; (ii) WRC Inspectors providing their contact details to fishers and fishing vessels owners at inspections in case of follow up enquiries ; and (iii) a specific page “Working on Irish fishing vessels” on the WRC website for fishers and fishing vessel owners.

Furthermore, the Government indicates that WRC inspectors have received training from the national police (An Garda Síochána) on the identification of cases of trafficking in persons. The WRC Inspectorate works closely with the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) and the Garda National Protective Services Unit in relation to reporting potential immigration and trafficking issues encountered during inspections. Nine WRC inspectors are trained and available for deployment on fisheries control operations. The Government reports that there were no cases of trafficking in persons identified in the fishing industry in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, seven victims of trafficking were identified; all were offered the services of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and three accepted the services offered by the NRM. The Committee further notes from the AWS Report Review that between 2016 and 10 September 2021, 27 non-EEA fishers were admitted to the NRM as suspected victims of human trafficking. Of the 27 individuals admitted, 18 had participated in the AWS Scheme. All allegations of human trafficking made in relation to the Scheme or the fishing sector have been fully investigated by An Garda Síochána and examined by the Director of Public Prosecutions and none of the allegations have been substantiated to date nor any prosecutions taken in this regard.

The Committee welcomes this information and encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure that the competent authorities, in particular the WRC, have the means and capacities to be able to identify situations or forced labour of migrant fishers and gather evidence that will allow for the prosecution of perpetrators. Please indicate also the measures taken to raise awareness among migrant fishers on the risks of forced labour as well as on their rights. Finally, the Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations carried out and sanctions imposed following inspections and complaints concerning cases of trafficking in persons and practices of forced labour involving migrant fishers.

2. Trafficking in persons. The Committee previously requested the Government to provide information on the steps taken to implement the 2016 national Action Plan against trafficking. The Government indicates that a draft Third National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Human Trafficking was presented to the Minister of Justice in 2022. Within this process, an analysis of the situation of trafficking in the country was carried out which included a summary of issues in relation to human trafficking that the new National Action Plan should address and lessons for implementation from previous action plans and from other relevant domestic and international experience.

The Government also indicates that in 2021, the Courts handed down the first convictions for trafficking in persons. The Committee notes from the Trafficking in Human Beings in Ireland Annual Report 2021 of the Department of Justice that 44 victims of trafficking were identified by the national police in 2021, compared to 35 in 2018, 3 in 2019 and 10 in 2020. Of the 44 victims identified in 2021, 25 were victims of sexual exploitation and 19 labour exploitation. The victims were mainly from Nigeria, Slovakia and Ghana. In May 2021, the Government approved the creation of a revised National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for the identification of victims of trafficking in persons and the provision of support, in which the identification of victims will no longer be the sole responsibility of the national police. The Annual Report also refers to the establishment of (i) a forum consisting of Government, state agencies and civil society organizations to support victims of trafficking, and (ii) an Independent National Rapporteur for Anti-Human Trafficking operating under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The National Rapporteur’s responsibilities include monitoring the implementation of anti-trafficking policy at national level and playing a key role in the collection of data on trafficking in persons.

The Committee notes the concerns of the GRETA, in its 2022 Evaluation Report on Ireland, regarding the decrease over the years of the number of investigations into trafficking in persons, as well as the low number of prosecutions compared to the number of investigations (para. 101). The Committee requests the Government to pursue its efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, both for labour and sexual exploitation. It requests the Government to provide detailed information in relation to the adoption of the third national action plan as well as on the measures taken for its implementation. Please provide information on the assessment of the impact of these measures, in particular in relation to prevention of trafficking and identification and protection of victims, as well as on the annual reports produced by the Department of Justice. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the investigations undertaken for cases of trafficking, prosecutions initiated and convictions imposed, indicating the difficulties faced by law enforcement bodies in this regard.