Keelings pushed for lower-grade migrant housing
Fruit company lobbied council to agree to ‘competitive’ costs
KEELINGS fruit farms lobbied authorities to allow lower housing standards for its workers, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The company, which operates in large swathes of north Co. Dublin, brings in about 900 fruit pickers from abroad each year.
In a detailed submission to the draft development plan for Fingal County Council 2017 to 2023, the company made the case for reducing standards that would apply to ‘normal’ housing.
Many of its recommendations were included in the final plan.
Among them was a recommendation to provide bedroom space of just four square metres (2mx2m) per person per unit or the size of a large double mattress.
The company argued it needed the changes to build its own accommodation for fruit pickers and to remain ‘competitive’.
‘The challenges of seasonal workers finding accommodation that is suitable, affordable and close to the place of work in Fingal are extreme
‘The price of low-cost food is coming home to roost’
and forecast to become more difficult,’ it said. ‘There is an essential need for the amount of and type of accommodation and this cannot be met anywhere else. The onus is on the farmer/employer to demonstrate this.
‘Irish operators are also working at a competitive disadvantage internationally due to the non-regulation of temporary housing in Ireland.’
However, Green Party MEP Ciaran Cuffe, an architect, said ‘socalled temporary housing’ should always have the same standard as other residential accommodation.
Mr Cuffe told the MoS: ‘This is a race to the bottom. The price of lowcost food is coming home to roost in the way these migrant workers are treated. It’s disgraceful.
‘We should get used to paying a little more for food so that workers for Keelings and other firms can live and work in better conditions.
‘Those proposing lower standards of housing for agricultural workers tend to promote it as a short-term thing. But let’s be clear, that is not the case and more often than not, this accommodation becomes germane for long term.
‘It’s a responsibility for our local authorities everywhere to watch out for this kind of thing and not allow it. Though in the case of Fingal, it seems to have already happened.’
Fingal Labour councillor Brian McDonagh said there was ‘a lot of unease’ in the council chamber about the proposals, but some were eventually passed after several votes. Keelings proposed that each new purpose-built accommodation shall be provided in the form of 25 bed-space units. However, this was not accepted by the council.
The development plan also stipulated that ‘each bedroom, or at a maximum, each pair of two bedrooms shall have an individual dedicated bathroom facility with shower, toilet and basin. Communal facilities below this standard shall not be permitted.’
The year after making its submission to the development plan, Keelings applied for planning permission for the construction of eight new single-storey accommodation buildings at its lands on Brackenstown Road in Swords. The buildings were to replace previous accommodation blocks which the council had served an enforcement order on in 2016. However, the company is in a stand-off with planning officers after they objected to the current application. A report in 2019 said: ‘Concern must be expressed about the quality of accommodation in the proposed units.
‘Toilet provision was working out at one toilet per four people compared to one per three people in the existing building which the new accommodation would replace. ‘Whilst insulation and the general quality of the buildings may be an improvement on the existing situation, welfare facilities for residents should demonstrate a similar level of improvement.’
In a statement to the MoS, Keelings said: ‘Fingal County Council granted planning permission to the planning application F18a/0313 in April 2019. To date, Keelings have not proceeded to build.’
Keelings assists seasonal workers with their accommodation. This consists of the identification of a range of suitable accommodation across several locations within commuting distance of Keelings farms, ensuring that the accommodation is appropriate, is affordable, and complies with all necessary regulations – including the Irish Health Protection Surveillance Centre in regard to Covid-19.’
The company added: ‘The vast
Dozens of workers in breach of Covid rules
majority of all seasonal workers’ accommodation is with private external providers, and each worker contracts directly with these providers for their accommodation requirements.’
Most of the 900 workers flown in by Keelings from Bulgaria to pick fruit this year are living in apartment blocks bought by the company, with rent deducted from their pay. Last week dozens of workers were seen on shift not social distancing, not wearing masks and travelling to and from their workplace on crowded buses.