Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Friday, 10 July 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Congregated Settings: Meat Plants

Photo of Mairead FarrellMairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. We will pursue this with the HSE because that is a huge issue for so many people, especially when there are low levels of literacy and all that. It is outrageous that this information was not provided in workers' native languages from the very beginning, particularly given that we know a certain number of specific languages are mainly used.

I refer to the agency staff. One thing that sprung out at me in Ms McGinley's opening statement was the fact that many workers were concerned about the Covid outbreaks being made public and that it could have an effect on their workplace, which is totally understandable.

Unfortunately, the reality is that it probably would have done so in many situations. With regard to agency staff, were those who were hired through an agency more concerned? Did they feel they were in a more precarious situation? Did the agency itself have a role to play in the health and safety of the workers?

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