SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL workers arriving in Northern Ireland are to be exempt from Covid-19 travel restrictions.

DAERA's Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots announced that individuals who have an offer of employment to carry out specific activities in edible horticulture on a named farm, are to claim an exemption from post-arrival testing and self-isolation when undertaking the exempt activity, if they have travelled from an amber list country. They will however have to undertake Lateral Flow Device tests on days two, five and eight following arrival.

Read more - NI in an unacceptable position - Edwin Poots

LFD tests can be accessed in Northern Ireland for free by the edible horticulture farms for their seasonal agricultural workers from workplace testing; collection from a local test site; and ordering from www.gov.uk

Minister Poots said: “I am pleased to announce that exemptions from certain Covid-19 regulations have been put in place for seasonal agricultural workers arriving in NI to work on edible horticulture farms. Access to seasonal workers is essential to the continued viability of the edible horticulture sector and given the relatively short timeframe of the visas, these exemptions will ensure that there is no time wasted when workers arrive here, and farms can benefit from the extra labour immediately.”