Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important that we continue to resource the WRC when it comes to these matters. Given that proceedings relating to some of the issues to which the Chairman referred are pending before the High Court, it would be inappropriate for me to talk about some of them. We have been able to ensure that we can continue to resource the WRC and give it additional resources particularly for the personnel necessary for these inspections. The Chairman mentioned chefs and those in other sectors. The fisheries sector is important. The WRC has had a great deal of success in the past number of years particularly in the context of inspections relating to fisheries, an issue that has been raised on many previous occasions. There were a number of security operations in 2018 about which the Chairman might know because Waterford has a big fishing industry and operation. Operation Neptune took place in March 2018 and there was another operation in June. Operation Egg Shell took place in 2016. Those have had many effects and surveillance is also important.

To the end of 2018, the WRC can report that there were 227 contraventions of employment rights and employment permit legislation detected by the WRC across 169 vessels. Many of those were to do with failure to keep records, failure to comply with inspection requirements etc., payslips, failure to comply with the conditions of the atypical scheme and failure to give pay entitlements. The additional resources we have given these bodies are important but we must continue to do so because we are up against many challenges at the moment.

There is a good news story from the HSA about work-related deaths in 2018. This is a matter on which the HSA has been focusing in recent of years. There were 37 people killed in 2018, which is 37 too many and 37 families which lost loved ones, but that represents a fall of 23% from the 2017 figures. Our policies are going in the right direction and that is to do with extra inspections that we are putting in place.

There is also good news from the farming sector which affects many people and is constantly seen as one of the most dangerous sectors in which to work. There were 15 deaths related to farming last year compared to 25 in 2017 which is a fall of 40% and the work being done by the HSA and ourselves should be acknowledged. I have worked with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, in this area. It is a good news story - not that any death is a good news story but at least fewer people are dying and we want to continue our focus in that area. I pay tribute to everybody working in that area within the HSA.

As the Chairman knows, we are also working with the WRC in other areas and that is why we have given them additional funding for inspections. We will also be giving additional funding to the WRC amounting to €15 million, an increase of €1.2 million on the previous year and it is important to look at its additional responsibilities with An Garda Síochána and civil servants as outlined in my initial contribution. That legislation will be coming through the House very shortly.