Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend the work that Migrant Rights Centre Ireland is doing because without it, many of these people would be voiceless and would feel vulnerable. It is important that Ms McGinley is able to voice their concerns. I have not visited a meat packing or processing plant but I would hope the yellow signage with which we are all now familiar, such as is right here beside me and everywhere one goes, would be multilingual and that there would be particular advice for these types of industries.

In its submission, Migrant Rights Centre Ireland stated that the CSO figures for 2016 show there were 12,413 employees in the sector, and around 42% of them were migrant workers. However, when work permits are added in on top of that, the figure is 15,338 and 58% of the sector are migrant workers. We are talking about quite a high volume of individuals who are potentially low-skilled and low-paid. What I said at the outset about the meat-packing industry being almost like a cluster for Covid may have been an incorrect portrayal but certainly the public perception was that were many issues in meat-packing plants.

My concern is now about the inspections being announced. No one involved in the hospitality industry ever gets advance notice of a health inspector coming in and rightly so because one needs to see warts and all in order to address concerns. I am very worried if advance notice of inspections is being given because it means we will not get to the root of the problem.

I was surprised at the accommodation figures because anecdotally, many people who are low-paid live together and that, therefore, would almost account for more of the cluster than the workplace.

I hope this is not the last time we get to engage. I hope we can achieve much of the reform the witnesses are seeking and I appreciate their time and comments.