Well irish people probably wouldn't do the work they are doing. Arentmeat factory workers tested regularly?
My answer probably should be in the politics thread.
I suggest the reason these Brazilians and other non EU people are brought in is because Irish and other EU people won't work for the wages paid to do these jobs and rightly so. Doesn't it say something that these factories have to go outside the EU to source employees?
I think I may have posted this before, back a couple of years ago I was in a waiting room of the dentist and I picked up the Irish Times to read while waiting. On page 2, I think, there was a small enough advertisement looking for people to work in meat plants of one of the big players which offered small enough wages, I'd be wrong to say a figure as I can't rightly remember but it was very little more than the minimum wage.
My thoughts on that advertisement :-
It was placed on that page rather than the employment section to try and hide it and very few would see it and so apply.
Also placed in a newspaper that very few people who would apply for those type of positions would read.
The main reason for the advertisement in my opinion was they didn't want EU people to apply but had to advertise in order to be able to get employment visas for non EU people and they could show/say they had advertised and no suitable people applied thus they need to go outside the EU for employees.
One time they were bringing in eastern Europeans to work for the small wages but these people have cottoned on to the fact they are being blackguarded.
It's not only the farmers these factories are screwing but also the hauliers and the employees in the factories and maybe the truth is that the only reason Irish beef is selling is because it can be sold cheap because of these reasons.
I mentioned a while ago that I was doing a supply chain management course, the lectures, reading material and books on the subject have at their core the concepts of value for the customer, cost saving and other similar concepts aimed at cutting prices and costs. The factories paying the least they can get away with to the farmer, paying low wages etc are the result of these concepts which are taught world wide and people have become professors in this which they call a profession. The result of this doctrine in my view is that peoples income is being cut so that these business can have a market but there will come a point where people won't be able to afford to buy these products and so the vicious circle will continue.