When offered an agricultural job in Ireland six years ago Sam hoped it would be a “turning point” in his life.
From Uganda, he planned to “work and send money home to [his] wife and son”.
Sam (a pseudonym used for this article to protect his identity) arrived into Ireland in November 2020 on a general employment (GE) permit. This allowed him to work solely for the employer and in the location printed on the permit.
Ireland was in one of the Covid pandemic’s most severe lockdowns. Horticulture, an essential industry, was desperate for workers.
“[The employer] told me: ‘You will be working, picking fruits, about 40 hours a week.’ When I got here it was totally different. I was collecting boxes, washing, making pallets – anything he wanted me to do.
“Then the hours were extremely difficult – 50 to 60 a hours week at least. I started at 6am every day and every day I did not finish on time. Sometimes not until 10pm.”
“I would say to him about pay for the extra hours but he would threaten. He knew I had to stay, that I had nowhere to go.
“He provided accommodation. There were nine of us in a three-bedroom house. It was so tough. We have to pay €50 a week and only in cash. It was in the countryside where we couldn’t meet other people.”
Sam got days off but only every 10 to 14 days. As for holidays, he says he got two weeks off during more than two years there. “My body was completely worn out. For those two weeks I slept in the house.
“Mentally I was not okay. What would keep me a bit happy, I had my wife and son in Uganda. I did calls with them and that would calm me.
“I went online, looking for help and I found the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland [MRCI]. I contacted that organisation and they to help me out.”
Cases of “severe exploitation” like Sam’s are “routine” in the general employment permit system, the MRCI said.
In a report published on Monday it says exploitation “is not isolated to a small number of employers”.
“If you are a GE permit holder … then more likely than not you have been exploited at some point,” says the report, titled Tied to Exploitation: The experience of migrant workers in Ireland.
Broadly, workers from outside the European Economic Area can come to Ireland on either a critical skills employment permit or a GE permit.
The former is aimed at highly educated professionals in areas including medicine, information technology and engineering. Holders can change employers after two years.
Holders of the latter, aimed at filling labour shortages in lower-paid sectors such as healthcare assistance, haulage and agriculture, can change employer solely after five years.
This makes them particularly vulnerable to exploitation, says the MRCI.
Its survey of more than 1,000 migrants who either have or recently had GE permits found 71 per cent reported having been exploited.
This included being paid less than the minimum wage or than the wage detailed on their permit; not being paid for all hours worked; excessive hours; not being paid extra for Sundays; and no proper breaks.
Other instances included not getting at least a day off a week; not getting at least four weeks’ paid leave a year; being made work beyond what is normal for their role; and being abused verbally or physically at work.
More than half (51 per cent) did not report exploitation mainly due to fear of losing their job and permit.
The survey, conducted between July 2025 and February 2026, was sent to verified migrant workers through the MRCI email, phone and social-media channels and via colleagues and other referrals.
A total of 1,019 responses were received and assessed as a representative sample of the estimated 38,000 GE permit holders.
The MRCI recommends GE permit holders be allowed change job after two years; a new criminal offence for severe exploitation; exploitative employers be banned from applying for permits for migrant workers; and the Department of Trade and Employment better inform migrant workers about their rights.
Sam, with the MRCI’s support, was able to leave his employer. He is now working in food processing and has been able to go home to visit family.
“Things are much better. I am being paid properly and treated well. When I look back I see it was totally not right. It is not just me. It is more than half of migrant workers like me. I think everyone on general permits needs to feel they can change job when they are exploited.”