Councillor slams self-service checkouts in Penneys
Penneys now offer self-checkouts in many of their stores
A LOCAL councillor said it was “very sad” to see a popular Carlow retailer with “13 checkouts and only five people working at them – the rest worked by machines”.
Cllr Willie Quinn was referring to the new checkout system at Penneys in Carlow, where new self-service tills were installed just before Christmas. At last Monday’s meeting of Carlow County Council, cllr Quinn recalled that when shopping over Christmas he was saddened to see the new self-service tills in Penneys.
“Is that the way our country had gone? Turning our back on our own people and jobs,” he said.
“It’s the same with this working from home – we need to put an end to that. It’s no wonder young people are leaving this country in their droves with no houses and no jobs,” he added.
Later in the meeting, a presentation from Justin Gleeson of People in Place Consultants on the socio-economic profile of Co Carlow indicated that the county is at just over 90% employment – a rise of more than 20% on 2016.
Cllr Andrea Dalton insisted that people should “deal with the facts”, pointing out that according to CSO figures 37,000 Irish people left Ireland up to April last year, with 30,000 Irish people returning home in that period.
“Many people leave for the experience, not because they have to leave – that is a fallacy that’s put out there. Many people are returning home,” she said.
