Meat Industry Ireland (MII) said it believes that approximately 20% of the workforce is covered by sick pay.

Trade union SIPTU has presented a contrasting statistic: that just 10% of the workforce is covered by sick pay which, according to manufacturing division organiser Greg Ennis, “forces vulnerable workers to go to work, even if they are feeling unwell with possible Covid-19 symptoms”.

Matters of urgency were discussed at the meeting of the Special Oireachtas Committee on Covid-19 Response held yesterday, Thursday, August 14, involved a number of employment matters: meat plant workers’ access to sick pay; Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions; workers being provided by agencies; and workers living in inappropriate accommodation as a result of financial constraints.

Cormac Healy, senior director of MII, defended the meat industry, saying that “direct employment of workers by the company is what happens and is the mainstay of this industry”.

Healy said he does “not accept what has been said; we continue to work on the situation”.

He added: “Covid-19 does not start in the meat plant; it comes into it”.