Mr. Greg Ennis:

If I may deal with the question Deputy Ó Cathasaigh asked, our more than 6,000 members, particularly in the primary meat processing industry, can be in workplaces with six or seven different languages, as my colleagues will testify, where they are not being given all the necessary information in their mother tongue. This is a problem. The Deputy asked how many cases are in the migrant category. I watched the meeting of this committee that was addressed by Meat Industry Ireland and its representatives may appear again today. I found it ironic that eastern European workers, although they have free movement across the EU, are not recognised by Meat Industry Ireland as migrant workers. That is spin. There are workers from South Africa, a large number of Brazilian workers from South America and many eastern European workers. As my colleague said, some of them have been here for many years.

As members know, the virus does not discriminate on grounds of ethnicity. It does not discriminate inside or outside employment. I have not represented meat workers for a long time but when I first did so over 20 years ago in Kildare, I would say that the ratio was 80% indigenous workers to 20% migrant workers. It is now 70% migrant and 30% indigenous workers. As such, there will be, pro rata, more cases among workers because of vectors such as cramped living conditions and the car-pooling that workers are forced into using. In 2016, the then Government stated in its programme that it would have the minimum wage up to €10.50 per hour at this stage. It is still €10.10, which is nowhere near that commitment. We are nowhere near the living wage. We need to be moving these workers up towards the average industrial wage because of the labour intensive work they provide in what is, by everyone's admission, an essential service.