Results 10,261-10,280 of 10,862 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: I do not want quick comments. I just want a "Yes" or "No" from the CEO.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: I apologise to the CEO because my time is running short. As well as asking whether Mr. Reid considers it important to inform the public, I will also ask him why testing is being carried out at the plants I mentioned by private companies. Why is the HSE paying for it? Did the meat factories request that the public would pick up the bill for that?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: Can I ask-----

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: Can I have a response in writing on the funding aspect of all of this-----

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: -----and the language used. All of the information we are getting in respect of the meat plants is coming from the meat factories themselves and I do not trust them, to be quite frank about it. They are saying that testing has been carried out by private companies in conjunction with the HSE. I want to know who is actually paying for that and if it is the public purse, why is the public...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: One can see where the language-----

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: The Chairman might give me two minutes extra during the next session-----

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: -----in recognition of that.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: It would have been appropriate had Meat Industry Ireland been a part of this session. I do not know whether there was a particular reason for that not happening.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: I accept that, but this would have been a more appropriate session. Notwithstanding that, I have a number of questions. In light of the limited time, I ask that witnesses be brief. There was considerable discussion about how Covid-19 was not a notifiable illness and the apparent lack of urgency or even desire on the part of the HSA for it to become so. Earlier, the Government parties...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: I thank Ms King. I might ask Mr. Ennis to take my next couple of questions, but since they are broad, other witnesses may wish to contribute. We have had a conversation about workers, employment contracts and the seeming lack of transparency. Does that lack of transparency, which pervades the meat industry, have an impact on the State's ability to prepare adequately for issues relating to...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: Why would a company decide to be unlimited, which I understand is the case throughout almost the entire food industry, as opposed to limited in its structure?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: The Chairman will recall how, during the factory protests last year, farmers strongly lamented the lack of transparency in the sector. We have heard today about some of the focus being placed on retailers or others in terms of who is the cause. One of the witnesses suggested there was an issue pertaining to turnover being cited as opposed to profits, which might be very different. In most...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: Could Mr. Ennis or any of the witnesses indicate why any company would operate under such a structure?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: All of the companies are involved.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: This is all publicly available information I am citing and I am open to be corrected if any of the entities in question wish to do so.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: For example, Carroll Cuisine is essentially owned by a Luxembourg holding company. If we are to learn anything from these cases and the situation highlighted as a result of Covid-19, we need to move to a point where there is transparency and accountability.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: This was deemed an essential service. These workers and companies were operating at a time when many other companies could not operate under law. It beggars belief that somebody who would be described as an essential worker during a global pandemic would be earning €10.10 an hour. How does that make sense? That is my final question to the witnesses.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: Is there time for Ms Labo to reply?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Matt Carthy: I ask our guests to be as succinct as possible in their responses. During a Dáil debate on 21 May, which I believe was the fourth occasion on which Ministers dismissed any suggestion of potential difficulties in this sector, in response to questions, both the then Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, and the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the...