Peadar Tóibín: It is incredible that hundreds of seasonal workers are being flown into Ireland in the middle of a pandemic

Initially the [Irish] government press office indicated that seasonal workers from abroad were essential workers.

When the chief medical officer said that it was not in the interest of public health that hundreds of seasonal workers were coming to Ireland, the government press office did an about turn.

The Taoiseach stated that he “shared the discomfort of the CMO and urgent review would be undertaken”.

However on Sunday the Minister for Enterprise Heather Humphreys stated in the RTE ‘This Week’ programme that seasonal workers were free to come to Ireland in the middle of this pandemic.

Minister Humphreys stated that she did not know how many seasonal workers would be coming to Ireland during the pandemic and that the government would start to recruit locally to fill the posts.

Ten weeks into this crisis that has taken so many lives, this is incredible.

The people of Ireland are being asked to make so many sacrifices. Nearly 800 people have died on the island of Ireland and the number of confirmed cases is approaching 20,000.

Older people cannot leave their homes or see their families. Grieving families cannot attend funerals of loved ones. Hundreds of thousands of workers have been thrown into financial instability and businesses are folding every day.

And yet obvious, common sense public health measures such as recruiting locally and restricting international travel is not being implemented.

We are calling on the government to indicate clearly. Will these flights be stopped?

Peadar Tóibín TD, Aontú leader