Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I begin by sending out greetings of solidarity on behalf of my party, Sinn Féin, to the Tesco workers who are on strike today. They are striking for decency and respect at work. I hope that everyone in the Chamber will join with me in saluting their courage today.

I was at another picket line this morning and it is one that has not reached the headlines for some reason. The picket line is at Kerry Foods in Charleville. The picket line resembled something from Wapping in the 1980s. We had multiple cameras installed by the company. We had a whole host of heavies and security guards present. Last week, Kerry Foods bused in strike breakers from Britain for the day to replace workers on a legal trade dispute. The most shocking point of all is that the management of Kerry Foods is refusing to attend the Workplace Relations Commission regarding the dispute which is about changes to job patterns and workers' rights.

I ask that the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation come to the House as a matter of urgency. Some 250 jobs are at stake. I see colleagues from Limerick and Cork here and I appeal to them to engage in this process because this is extremely serious. The company is engaging in practices like demanding that workers who have worked for 30 years now ask permission before they go to the toilet. Imagine that. Imagine the humiliation of that, when one has worked for a company for 30 years and now has to put one's hand up and say "Please sir, can I go to the toilet?" That is how Kerry Foods is humiliating its workers. Its stance on refusing to engage with the Workplace Relations Commission is nothing less than outrageous for a company that made €700 million last year and has received millions of euro in grants from this State. I ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to come to the House as a matter of urgency. There are 250 jobs potentially at stake here and we need to discuss the situation and demand that the management of Kerry Foods respects its workers and engages with the industrial relations machinery of the State.