Meat Sector Rejects Claims It's A "Centre Of Covid" In Ireland

Tuesday, 13 April 2021 14:57

Meat plants were a hot spot for covid in the midlands last year.

The meat sector has rejected claims it is a "centre of Covid" in Ireland.

Although the industry says it has clamped down on virus cases, campaigners say it still has to do more.

When Kildare, Laois and Offaly went into lockdowns in August, meat plants were blamed after a huge number of Covid cases were recorded in local factories.

Cormac Healy, a senior director at Meat Industry Ireland, today told the Oireachtas enterprise committee that situation has now reversed.

He said that while the Covid positivity rate is about 4 per cent in pop up centres across Ireland, it’s now 10 times lower in meat plants:

But this was rejected by Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy:

Unions say one in five meat processing staff in Ireland has got Covid since the start of the pandemic, and urged companies to go even further to protect workers.