The Northern Ireland mushroom sector is a risk of disappearing due to post Brexit visa restriction which have left growers unable to hire enough staff.
Speaking on behalf of the province’s eight remaining mushroom farms which together make up an industry which supplies 10% of the UK’s needs, the Northern Ireland Mushroom Growers Association said the sector is in a “desperate state” following Brexit due to lack of labour and rising costs which have left them unable to compete with growers in the Republic.
It has called on the Westminster government to include mushroom pickers on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). Occupations on the list are given dispensations within immigration rules, designed to make it easier for employers to access labour to fill vacancies, including a lower salary threshold and reduced visa fees.
The group acknowledged that mushroom growers elsewhere in the world are also struggling to find staff but pointed out that governments in other parts of the world have stepped in to help attract workers from other countries. In Northern Ireland, the flow of pickers from Europe was cut off after Brexit and the government has done little to help alleviate the situation since then.
“With 95 per cent of our workers coming from EU member states, and the end of freedom of movement because of Brexit, farms in Northern Ireland have been left in a desperate situation which is not of their making,” Frank Donnelly, chair of the Northern Ireland Mushroom Growers Association. “Our farms are resilient but the cumulative impact of the lack of access to labour, rising business costs as well lack of competitive playing field with our neighbours in the Republic of Ireland means that farmers are increasingly faced with the prospect of closure or moving operations to the south.
“We hope that the MAC (Migration Advisory Committee), and UK Government, will see the devastating impact which the lack of access to a labour market is having on our industry, and ensure the inclusion of mushroom pickers on the SOL.”
