Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are interested in and have learned from Mr. Downey's contribution and before he leaves, I would like to recount a tale from my childhood. We were threshing corn and the small belt came off the finisher. The man who owned the Fordson Major machine turned down the power but did not turn it off totally so that when he approached the belt it broke his arm and he collapsed. The man who was helping him went off with the machine for help and about seven miles away turned over in a ditch. However, both men survived. We have come a long way.

Lest the impression would go out that many people on farms are careless, I wish to acknowledge that the farming organisations and Teagasc are very responsible and I welcome their contribution today. Hopefully, we will hear the positive side of this issue and hear that major strides have been made over the past number of years. We cannot put down the number of fatalities to human error and will always have some fatalities. I sincerely thank the three organisations who have made presentations. What they have said, along with their written submissions, will be taken on board.

We will move on now to the next groups of witnesses who are dealing with the youth perspective. I invite any witnesses who have already spoken who have the time to remain to hear these worthwhile contributions. We will have two presentations now, one from the Mizen Rovers under age GAA club, represented by Tim Sheehan and Connie O'Driscoll and one from Mr. Patrick Duffy. We also have two ladies, Mary Hayes and Anne Murnane, in the Gallery. As all of these participants have been here from the outset, I will not repeat the privilege statement. Each group will have five minutes to make its presentation. As I live in west Cork, I want to give a particular welcome to the people from Mizen, who had a long way to travel. Many of them will know the famous Deputy from that part of the country who said it was easier for him to get to the White House than to get to Dublin. Just imagine how far Goleen and Schull are from Dublin. Connie and Tim have travelled a long way and are more than welcome. I now invite whichever of them wants to begin to give his perspective on farm safety.