Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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645. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the protections in place for workers in meat processing plants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7940/20]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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In order to address issues in meat plants, Food Business Operators have put in place a range of protective practices and equipment to protect employee safety and these measures may vary slightly from plant to plant, but may include the reduction of throughput rates at the plant, temperature checks on entry into the plant, the extension of operating hours and other safeguards such as “podding”, the provision of additional PPE, the use of perspex screens and the provision of additional facilities to support physical distancing measures.

A national Outbreak Control team has been established by the HSE to deal with all issues relating to Covid 19 in meat plants. My Department is represented on this committee and it is expected that recommendations, including any in relation to testing, will issue from this group in due course. Any clusters of cases in individual meat plants, in common with clusters in other workplaces, are dealt with by local HSE-led outbreak control teams.