Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This question is directed at Mr. O'Halloran. Four years ago I visited a family about 48 hours after a young man had died tragically in a farm accident. I knew the family fairly well and wished to sympathise with them. The young man who died was 20 or 22 years of age. I met the young mother, who said she had been looking through her window for the past day or two at health and safety officers and gardaí around the place, and she said, "You would think we killed the young man, my own son." She did not say that in a derogatory or nasty sense, but she was very upset about it. I think the investigation was nearly over at the time. How close does the HSA work with the farm organisations? I have heard it said in west Cork and Kerry that we are over-regulated by the HSA. There have also been references to the Garda investigating the fishing industry and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, coming down on top of people. In one sense, the HSA is a group in command and in control and has a very important job to do - I am aware that its representatives visit schools - but how can it bury that myth and reach out to do a job, while at the same time educating and giving advice? I hope Mr. O'Halloran does not take my suggestion in the wrong way. I will never forget that woman who asked if I could do something. She was looking at where the accident happened, about 50 or 100 yards across the farm. She asked me to tell the HSA and the Garda that her family did not kill the young man - it was a simple accident. As they had been on the farm for the previous two days, that was her concern. That is a concern, perhaps because of overuse of the stick and under-use of the carrot. Perhaps Mr. O'Halloran would touch on that issue before he concludes.