Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The HSA comes under the remit of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and any specific questions about its reports are a matter for that Department. Statutory responsibility for health and safety in the workplace rests with the HSA. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, primary responsibility for public health policy and implementation rests with the Department of Health and the HSE.

My Department's statutory responsibility is to ensure that food business operators within these premises operate in compliance with the EU's food hygiene legislation, animal and plant health, and animal welfare standards. However, in the current circumstances, in addition to this statutory role, the Department is continuing to provide any support required to the HSE and the HSA at local and national level in monitoring the effective implementation of all relevant guidance in Department-approved food plants. As at 27 November, the Department had completed 575 inspections on behalf of the HSA, including unannounced inspections, in Department-approved food premises, and these inspections are ongoing. To be clear, this is in addition to the inspections carried out by the HSA itself, and in addition to the 49 premises where the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has a permanent presence.

In ongoing engagement with the meat industry since the start of the pandemic, my officials have emphasised that the health and safety of workers must be the absolute priority. In September 2020 Meat Industry Ireland and SIPTU agreed a code of practice for the safe management of staff in the primary meat processing sector during the pandemic. I welcome such initiatives as very positive steps in ensuring a safer working environment for employees in the meat slaughter and processing sector. If employees or their representatives have any specific concerns about employment conditions they should contact the relevant statutory agencies, that is, the HSA, the Workplace Relations Commission or the Department of Social Protection, as appropriate.

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