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The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the HSE is to carry the cost of new weekly testing for meat factory workers.
It had been unclear whether the meat industry or the State would foot the bill for testing but Government sources confirmed the State will pay, with hopes that testing get under way this weekend.
The testing programme was announced by An Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Tuesday as concerns grow about outbreaks in meat factories.
“[Testing] will be weekly in the first three counties [Kildare, Laois and Offaly] but across the country we will be doing it and that will progress to fortnightly,” Martin said.
It is expected that the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) will sign off on the testing programme on Thursday.
Testing will initially be put in place for factories with over 50 employees, with priority given to testing workers in the three lockdown counties in the midlands.
Pressure
The Government was under pressure to act following an outbreak in four meat plants which triggered the first localised lockdown in the country.
Kildare Chilling (150 cases), O’Brien’s Fine Foods (86 cases), Irish Dog Foods (50 cases) and Carroll Cuisine Ltd (nine cases) all remain closed.
As Kildare Chilling is the only slaughter plant out of the four, its closure has the most immediate impact on farmers, with some concerns the closure dilutes the level of competition among factories on price.
The plant processes up to 15,000 lambs and 1,500 cattle a week.
Meat Industry Ireland
Meat Industry Ireland (MII) said its members were fully on board with the testing programme but insisted that results must be returned quickly.
The speedy return of test results has been highlighted as an issue and the Irish Farmers Journal understands that one of the affected plants, Kildare Chilling, is still waiting on up to 200 test results from the HSE.
Some 150 workers are understood to have already tested positive at the plant.
Appropriate response
Last week, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said in his opinion meat factories with positive virus cases should close.
However, CEO Danny McCoy of IBEC, the parent agency of MII, called for an appropriate response to virus outbreaks in plants.
The Irish Farmers Journal understands that at least one large plant in the south of the country has been warned by the HSE that it will have to temporarily close if it has another outbreak of COVID-19. When contacted for comment on factory closures, the HSE said it would consider all circumstances before deciding what option to take.
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