Offaly meat factory announces suspension of operations after criticism for opening this morning

Entrance to Carroll's factory in Tullamore, Co Offaly. Image: Niall Carson Entrance to Carroll's factory in Tullamore, Co Offaly. Image: Niall Carson Updated 33 minutes ago

The Government announced two weeks of regional restrictions on Friday to prevent further transmission. “Our employees will continue to be paid as normal. We are very grateful to our staff for their excellent dedication and commitment and for the support and encouragement of our communities however we believe this temporary suspension of operations is the best course of action at this time.”

In comparison, Carroll Cuisine in Tullamore, Co Offaly had just nine cases confirmed but Fleming suggested the factory should close to prevent those confirmed cases leading to further transmission.“I accept he numbers vary from factory to factory but they could increase, we’re in the middle of a spike, the spike in Ireland is getting worse than England at the moment. It’s not about the historic figures, we have to contain it.

If you don’t have Covid-19 symptoms, and you’re not a close contact of a confirmed case, but you’re waiting for a test result as part of a “sweep” across an industry, then “that doesn’t require people not to go to work,” he said. The meeting was agreed several weeks ago but no date had been set until early last week, just days before the most recent clusters in meat processing factories came to light.

We predicted [this outbreak] would happen on 23 June and we were right because the meat industry is the perfect vector for the spread of Covid. TheJournal.ie contacted Meat Industry Ireland for comment in relation to that meeting but did not receive a response at time of publication. However, in a separate statement this morning it said it has written to the HSE National Standing Oversight Committee seeking early engagement to facilitate the planning of testing at its member facilities.

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