Holly Cairns TD, Social Democrats spokesperson for Agriculture, has renewed her call for a task force for the meat processing industry following the emergence of new Covid-19 clusters in a number of plants.
Holly said:
“While the health and wellbeing of the workers must be our main priority, ongoing outbreaks at meat processing plants have wider implications for the towns and villages they are located in. There are very real fears that localised lockdown measures could be imposed in a number of counties in the Midlands, undoing the months of progress made in bringing infection rates down.
“This has been an ongoing issue for months but we are seeing clusters in the same settings time and time again. What lessons have been learnt?
“I have previously called for unannounced inspections at plants – but have there been any? I will continue to seek a task force on workers’ conditions in the meat processing sector as it is now clear that this is needed more than ever.”
August 7, 2020