Unpaid farm worker lived in a shed

A Brazilian employed to work on a North Galway farm was never paid and was forced to live in squalor inside a steel container – without running water or a toilet.

The farmer who employed the 47 year old man had him working 16 hours a day for three months, Tuam District Court was told this week.

Thomas Killarney from Knockauncarragh, Ryehill, Monivea, admitted employing a non-national without a permit.

Prosecuting Sergeant Daithi Cronin told the court that the Brazilian national had called to the Garda Station in Tuam and complained that he had worked on the farm for three months and hadn’t got paid.

Garda Frank Fahy spoke to Thomas Killarney who said he was not aware that he needed a permit to employ the man.

The court was told that the Brazilian man was spoken to on a number of occasions by the Gardaí and informed them that the arrangement with the farmer was to work for 16 hours and he was told that he would receive €60 payment per day.

See full court report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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