Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Someone trying to get a certification redone might be waiting three months, during which time that person is out of certification and an employer cannot bring him or her onto a site. It seems that there may need to be more accredited people to do the training.

The issue of solar panels, rigging and so forth was mentioned. It is an important area that we need to consider. Ms Byron will be well aware that, where anyone is doing that work in the commercial sector, there is a requirement for hoist tickets, people to be tethered when working at heights and so forth. The remarks about the informal sector were right, though, particularly in terms of agriculture. The requirements need to be highlighted. For example, round-top hay barns are very dangerous, with a lot of the roofs where people are going being unstable. Perhaps the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, and Teagasc could work on providing training courses.

Recent years have seen fatalities owing to slurry tanks and water tanks on farms. Ms Byron will be aware that the main problem on farms is the availability of labour. Most farms, particularly small ones, essentially have just one family member doing all of the work. This raises the informal issue, in that the farm is not a formal workplace as people understand it. Work needs to be done on teaching farmers about the dangers of gases, not only from slurry tanks, but from tanks with long-standing water that might have slurry in them. These dangers are not well understood. A number of fatalities and close calls have been documented in the media this year in respect of gas from tanks.

Tractors, trailers and power take-offs are the three main areas where accidents among young farmers occur. During harvest season, we can see 15-year-olds and 16-year-olds driving 200 hp tractors pulling trailerloads of silage at 25 mph or 30 mph. We all know that the work has to be done but there is an inherent danger in this. That danger is seen in the accidents and, unfortunately, fatalities that occur on farms every year. I am very close to the farm sector, so I am not bashing farmers but this matter needs to be considered. Times have changed completely in terms of tractor power and the weight and momentum of the loads that people are pulling on roads. Training and certification should be considered.

Ms Byron mentioned how a great deal of work was being done on hydrogen planning. I assume that includes biogas from anaerobic digesters. Will she outline what she meant when she said that the HSA was working with companies on hydrogen planning applications? Will she give us the breadth and scale of those companies? This will be an important sector for us.