Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 13 August 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants

Mr. Michael Sheahan:

Our 250 staff members are quick and if they are not happy about something, they are not shy about passing on that information. From the start, when everybody was in the dark as regards the best measures to take, our staff tried their best to work with management. In general, we have no difficulty in saying that as matters stand, compliance with protocols is not the problem. Obviously, there is always a bit of slippage. I was washing my hands 20 times a day six weeks ago. I am probably not washing them as often as I should now. There is a bit of fatigue and slippage. However, in general, as I said, compliance with protocols is not particularly the problem here. There will always be individual plants where things could be done a bit better than in others but in general compliance with protocols is not the problem. NPHET has said from the start that the difficulty with any congregated setting, for example, schools as we will see in September, is that if the levels in the community are not suppressed, no matter what protocols one has in place, this resourceful virus will cause problems sooner or later. That is why all efforts from the start have been to suppress the virus in community. NPHET has been consistent. That is the best chance we have of preventing incursions into schools or other settings.

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