Sir, - Last week in my local supermarket, Asian girls were sweeping the floor. This week, they were on their hands and knees, scrubbing under the shelves. I stopped to try and talk to them but we did not get very far as they hardly had any English. All I found out is that they were pleasant and cheerful and that they came from China. The customers' desk informed me that they were not employed by the supermarket but by a cleaning agency.I am sure that these girls came to Ireland through the proper channels, that they have decent accommodation and that they are paid at least the minimum wage, yet I cannot help feeling ill at ease pushing my trolley past people who have come all the way from China to do such a menial job.I know that we are worth it. That is why Moldovan dentists come to work for us as meatpackers and why Kenya, in the midst of a drought, sends us green beans, mange-touts and sugar snaps.Apparently, Ireland too was exporting food and people during the Famine. - Yours, etc.,Claudine Gaidoni, Ailesbury Grove, Dublin 16.