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

If it is a populist conspiracy theory that the Government represents the interests of the beef barons and not the interests of the workers, why, ten months after this issue was first raised in the Dáil, has the Tánaiste not acted to introduce sick pay for beef factory workers? It is a very simple question. If the Government does not represent the interests of the beef barons, who had sales of €5 billion in 2018, which is huge money, why has serial testing been reduced at the plants? If the Government does not represent the interests of beef barons, why is it the case that employers who have their employees in so-called tied accommodation are not covered by the eviction ban? Why are they able to evict their workers if they speak out? There is lots and lots of evidence, unfortunately, to suggest that from the very start, when this issue was raised and the Government's response was to dismiss it, deny it and talk it down, the Government has consistently had the back not of the workers - and the workers need support - but of these big beef barons.

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