James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. McGuinness. My next couple of questions are for Meat Industry Ireland. The primary producers, farmers, feel they are getting a very unfair deal from meat plants in the country and that they are completely squeezed. We had issues around meat scandals and worker welfare issues being raised and now we have Covid outbreaks with three counties, effectively gone into lockdown as a result of outbreaks in meat factories. Meat plants are dominated by a small number of big players. I would argue that the reputation of meat plants is pretty much in tatters. Are meat plants on a self-destructive pathway? When one looks at the different issues concerning meat plants, it seems that everything is about short-term profit or gain as opposed to the people - farmers, producers and workers - or, given the current situation with Covid, the communities in which the plants are located.