Mr. Joe Ryan:

I will come in briefly on the first question on skilled knifemen. A knifeman is one of the most highly skilled individuals within a meat plant. He or she has an in-depth knowledge of the butchery trade and is able to debone the carcase into hindquarters, forequarters and the various cuts. It is a highly skilled role that is ultimately able to dictate the efficiency of all the other operations that follow it. One of the courses we organised with Skillnet was a knifing and boning course. That was aimed at upskilling the existing resident workforce that we have. There are various levels to that course, from award to certificate and diploma. There is a mix of practical and educational aspects to that course.

On the Deputy's question regarding the labour market needs test, significant advertising is done via JobsIreland, EURES, our company website, social media and recruitment agencies both in Ireland and across Europe to try to secure labour.