Dr. Sharon McGuinness:

I will go back to the point I made already. This is a public health-led initiative. There is a pandemic going on and, therefore, the infectious disease regulations under public health are the primary legislation whereby a doctor or someone in a laboratory has to report this illness. It is very important that those regulations are in place because this is not a once-off. It does not just affect one worker and then stops. It can affect that one worker, his or her co-workers, family and colleagues when he or she goes out socialising. It is important that public health takes the lead on this. If we do not lead this as a public health matter, the impact will go from the workplace out to society and back in again.

As regards notifiable diseases, we are working with the outbreak control teams. We are aware of where the outbreaks are occurring and are engaging with them as they happen. The primary driver in all this effort must be getting the outbreak under control. It is in everybody's interest to do that. That is why it has to be led in this way.

The Deputy asked about the legislative basis for reporting. There is a lot of different legislation. Under the current 2005 legislation and our general application regulations, fatalities and accidents are reported by the employer. The employers know what is happening on the ground and they can report that. That is the case in many of these meat plants. I know of one where an injury was reported just recently. Employers will often not know the result of a test as the worker may not have told them, which is why public health and infectious disease regulations are primary here. We are looking at that-----