The TIPs report was mentioned as having particular significance in a recent Irish cross-departmental review of the AWS. It stated:
The study documented the experiences of non-EEA workers in the fishing industry and found “extremely long working hours with few breaks”, pay often below minimum wage and racist insults “were common workplace experiences” of fishers they interviewed. The issue of trafficking within the fishing industry can be “tricky”, according to lead researcher on the study Dr Clíodhna Murphy, associate professor of law in Maynooth University. That is because it is usually related to “trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation”.
This is reiterated by Patrick Murphy, chief executive officer at Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation – who represents vessel owners. He said that “if somebody’s trafficked into the country to be abused, then that person that brought them into the country should be prosecuted”. Of the 35 referrals of alleged trafficking, he said he wasn’t saying that they “don’t have a case” and added:
This is not a new situation. In 2018, it was reported that four Ghanaian men arrived in Belfast believing they would be working on British trawlers. They were driven from there to Howth in Dublin and allegedly worked on a number of UK and Irish-registered boats in locations around Ireland. A parallel criminal case in relation to employing workers without a permit was taken by the WRC against the vessel owner. O’Brien claimed was dismissed when the WRC failed to produce the four Ghanaians as witnesses. O’Brien said this was because they did not inform them that the case was taking place.
The spokesperson did not provide a response to O’Brien’s position on the WRC’s conduct in relation to this case. He still lives in Ireland and told the investigative team that garda assistance helped gain an Irish work permit. “They said it’s not our fault,” Daniel explained when speaking about the process.
However, because the WRC cases fell through, he claims that he is still owed money from his previous employer. “We were not given anything… the case was in court for so many years and nothing came out of it,” he said.
noteworthy_ie Joining the State in harassing and driving Irish fishermen out of business while other countries exploit our resources with impunity, disgraceful, go after the foreign boats exploiting our waters and people traffickers.