Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste has been telling us for some time, including during his tenure as Taoiseach, that we have the capacity to carry out 100,000 tests for Covid-19. Last week, we carried out 72,000 tests. Yet, testing in meat plants was being suspended. Our concern is that what we do has to be based on evidence. The evidence tells us that nearly four out of ten workplace clusters are occurring in meat plants. It is having devastating consequences on local economies and communities, and the people of Kildare, Laois and Offaly can tell us exactly what the impacts can be.

We are told that the Government is alert to this issue and, as the Tánaiste mentioned, all the proper surveillance is being carried out. However, we have a situation where a meat plant with a positive case is bussing workers in a 52-seater bus, with every seat filled and people standing in the aisles. How is that happening? How is that being allowed to happen? How is it that the area where the most serious clusters were developing in workplaces was the area where testing was suspended? What steps will the Government take to ensure that these workers are protected and that there is a robust process in meat plants? Time and again, I and the people believe that the meat barons have some grip on Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil regarding their response on this issue.

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