Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate it is a difficult sector for Dr. McGann to talk about, particularly given the facts. The MRCI declares that typically €10.85 an hour which matches the disgracefully low figure of €22,000. It goes up for the very skilled boners to €13.56, again an incredibly low rate of pay. As my colleague, Deputy Louise O'Reilly said, this is a hugely profitable sector. We are not talking about a low-margin sector. Meat factories made €170 million profit for the Goodman Group alone. We do not know the profits of other operators in the sector because they are private unlimited companies which have been offshored. How can Dr. McGann justify work permits in that situation? Is there not a far better solution that we just pay workers decent wages? God knows the meat sector can afford to pay them.