Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a brief supplementary question. The meat companies would be in the lower skilled category. What checks has the Department made in terms of where they are located and the unemployment levels in those areas? The Department has a range of local agencies that help people to attain work. One of our concerns, and we dealt with it in the previous session, is that work permits would not be utilised as a way of keeping wages low. Has the Department examined the wage policy of those sectors? Is it a case that the wages they are offering are not in any way acceptable? I would like to get a sense of the robustness of the Department's policies in respect of sectors and to make sure they are not utilising the permit option as a way of keeping wages low. There is a sense among primary producers and farmers, for example, that they do not get a fair price for their produce. There is a sense also that there is major profitability in that sector already but that it does not give a fair price to the primary producer. That is one issue. Second, we would be concerned that they are utilising the permit process to keep wages low. On both sides, therefore, there is suspicion, at the very least, of profiteering being facilitated by the State.