Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Deputy D'Arcy's question about farm safety generally, the Department does a large amount in this area in terms of the half-day farm safety course for people drawing down their grants, the knowledge transfer groups and a series of initiatives. In truth, we are losing the battle. There is no point in saying otherwise. I had a meeting earlier this year with the Health and Safety Authority in conjunction with the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Breen, to discuss how we might address this issue. We have to take an approach whereby nothing can be ruled out in this regard. I am familiar with the point the Deputy made about quads. I am also aware of fatal accidents in my constituency involving quads. I do not wish to give an exact figure in case I am wrong but, if my recollection is right, accidents involving farm machinery constitute a very high proportion of the overall number of accidents. We might have to contemplate issues that are unpopular.

I visited a rural national school in west Cork recently. The school has safety ambassadors and one of the points I made to the children was that when they went home they should badger their parents about getting the tractor serviced. There are simple problems such as faulty brakes. We would never consider driving a car in those circumstances but we are not as vigilant about the safety of farm machinery. Twenty years ago tractors on farms were much smaller. Now they are enormous vehicles, so we must ensure all of them are fit for purpose and serviced regularly.