Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have never met so many frustrated and angry people. I have received correspondence and have spoken to people on the telephone who are exasperated. They are exasperated because it has been a year since the first case of Covid-19 entered our shores, yet today we are talking about at some point in the near future putting in place mandatory quarantine for international visitors.

Even then, it will not be a comprehensive and mandatory quarantine system that we know will make a difference. Many people have told me that they are willing to put up with the sacrifices they have been asked to make, including their children's mental health, the exasperation in their children's eyes and frustration among their colleagues. They are even willing to close their businesses if that sacrifice on their part is matched by action on the part of the Government. It has not been in the areas where it really matters. International travel is one area in which the Government has been blind and is steadfast in its refusal to put in place the measures required.

I refer to meat factories. I have spoken on countless occasions to the Minister, his predecessor, the current Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and his predecessor and have pleaded for adequate controls to be put in place. At the outset of the pandemic we knew meat factories were a breeding ground for this virus. We have seen a carte blancheapproach and a free rein being given to meat factories to such an extent that I firmly believe the Brazilian variant reported in this country is directly linked to meat factories and encompasses and represents the inaction and failure of the Government to put in place the protections that are necessary.

We have heard about six rounds of serial testing in our meat plants. It is clearly not enough. We know that because when it came to the point where the State had almost no cases of Covid, meat factories were ground zero in terms of the re-emergence of the second wave. Time will tell what role they played in the third wave.

Meat factories are, of course, an essential part of the food production system. That does not and cannot give them the right to wreak havoc. It does not give the Government the right to turn a blind eye. I ask the Minister and Cabinet to put in place the measures that will ensure workers in our meat plants are protected by being tested on a regular basis and that controls are put in place. If a meat factory, due to a lack of due diligence, becomes a source of yet another community cluster, the provisions by which the owners of those factories are held financially responsible need to be in place.

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