The Licenced Vintners Association (LVA) and the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) are lobbying for the premature opening of pubs.
The enforcement of essential working place safety is already shambolic, with no department or governmental agency taking responsibility to enforce safety in the workplace.
Now though we have a situation where not only workers lives are being put at risk, but with the proposal by the LVA and the VFI that pubs should reopen in early June, we have a clear optic on what the priority really is – Profit.
Let’s not forget previous representations that the LVA have made. Besides successfully lobbying against the excise increases, lobbying for lower VAT rates and opposing mandatory calorie posting on food, they have also lobbied to against increases to the minimum wage.
The measures they both now propose do not represent the smaller publican or local bar. These measures are only there to represent the super-pubs – the wealthiest of the publicans. The image they both present of being representatives for all publicans is merely a disguise to lobby for the wealthiest.
To see why it is premature, you need to look at existing safety protocols
In 1996, an outbreak of E.coli caused the death of 21 people from a group of church lunch attendees in Scotland. An investigation found that a local butcher shop had been delivering cooked pork pies which were stored in the back of a van under raw meat. This prompted a Europe Wide food safety measure, to be become mandatory in 2006- Hazzard Analysis & Critical Control Points – or HACCP (pronounced Hassip).
HACCP is an internationally-recognised food safety management system that helps businesses to identify, evaluate and control the hazards that pose a significant risk to food safety. Having a HACCP plan in place is essential to prevent foods from becoming unsafe for the consumer to eat. It applies equally to food retail, catering and manufacturing establishments.
In Ireland, as a result of the introduction of HACCP, strict rules were brought in to deal with staff illness. The law puts the responsibility on employers to satisfy themselves that no food handlers pose a risk to food safety. This is one of the criteria laid out by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland in staff presenting with the flu. This is a twofold measure to a) protect the spread of the flu trough food, and b) protect the further contamination of other workers.
It is clearly laid out in the regulations that food business operators are ‘to ensure that staff handling foodstuffs are in good health’. With Covid-19 that will just not happen.
So let’s remind all of our Public Representatives who are prepared to listen to these two powerful lobby groups. You are here for the Health Of The Nation.
