Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Workers have been treated appallingly during the pandemic. I refer to the front-line health workers, student nurses, Debenhams workers, Arcadia workers, taxi drivers and artists. The list could go on and on but among all the cases of abuses of groups of workers the treatment of workers in meat plants stands out as particularly shocking. They are low paid and highly exploited and are often migrant workers. They work in workplaces where a regime of fear and intimidation often exists, where almost 50% of workers say they face bullying and where Covid has run rampant in the past year.

I know of one worker who spoke up about conditions in the factory, including on social media. As a result, the employer did not sack him because then he could take an unfair dismissals case. Instead, he kicked him out of his accommodation because for many working in these plants the boss is not just their employer; he or she is also their landlord.

These workers have been abandoned repeatedly by a Government which is more interested in appeasing the beef barons than protecting the health of workers and the wider community. Today's Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, report reveals that out of 56 meat plants in the State there are 34 open outbreaks now. That is an extra four outbreaks in the past week. Almost two-thirds of meat plants across the State have had Covid cases in the past 28 days.

In the Larry Goodman-owned ABP Bandon plant, 70 out of 300 workers have tested positive for Covid. It is clear that the big beef barons are putting their wealth before their workers' health and the Government is letting them away with it. SIPTU has reported that the level of serial testing has been cut back in recent months also.

None of this should come as a surprise to the Government. It is now ten months since I first raised it in the Dáil. The response then of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine was to accuse me of smearing the meat factory owners.

When the scale of the Covid outbreaks became clear, the Government was forced to feign concern. Last September, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine told the Dáil that the issue of sick pay for meat factory workers was being addressed but nothing has changed. Ninety per cent of those workers still do not have sick pay. Many feel compelled to go into work even if they feel sick. I have asked the Minister about that repeatedly and have got no response.

My questions are very simple. Will the Government act now to ensure sick pay is introduced for meat factory workers? Will it step up serial testing in the meat plants? Will it extend the eviction ban to cover those in so-called tied accommodation to stop meat factory workers and others being kicked out of their accommodation for speaking out?

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