Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the decision made by Tesco on Tuesday last to outsource 100 security jobs in Galway and across the country. To put this into perspective, in the UK and Ireland last year, Tesco forecast its profits to be more than €3 billion. Savings made by this decision will not even amount to a drop in the bucket of that enormous figure, yet it will have an extremely negative impact on those 100 employees and their families. Having spoken to some of the employees, including some who have worked in their positions for more than 25 years, they have told me how they worked right through the pandemic, how on occasion they have been assaulted in their work, and so on. They have shown loyalty to the company which makes billions of euro profit every year. That loyalty has now been thrown in their faces. They are being asked to reapply for part-time positions and to state the obvious their terms and conditions would be lesser and different. Tesco likes to say “Every Little Helps” but it has no concerns about what helps their employees who have collectively given hundreds of years of service to the company, regardless of how little the figure is in the grand scheme of things for their profits. Anything little that helps its bottom line will be done, notwithstanding the impact it will have on 100 families in Galway and across the country.

We have lots of fantastic companies in this country that treat their staff with respect and dignity and that appreciate the service their staff provide. With its actions, unfortunately Tesco is making it clear that it does not belong in that category. I ask the Leader to raise this matter with the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Troy, and with the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, because it is totally unacceptable for a company that is recording profits in the billions to be so dismissive of its employees in this country.