Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I am very pleased to open the hearings of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee on farm safety. This meeting is the second part of a process which began last December with a public invitation to make written submissions to the committee. Members of the committee were heartened by the range and quality of the submissions they had received. We are glad to have the opportunity today to explore the ideas expressed with the organisations and individuals who contributed.

Agriculture has a special place in Irish life. Its importance to the health of the economy and our export performance, in particular, cannot be overstated. The fact that over 400 international food buyers are in Ireland this week visiting farms and other food producers is tangible evidence of this. Agriculture also plays a very important part in our social and cultural life and contributes significantly to community and intergenerational cohesion. If it is to continue to make that contribution, it is essential that farming is a safe occupation for its workforce and that farms are safe places for families whose support is such a vital element in sustaining farming as a viable way of life. Unfortunately, farming can also be a dangerous way of life, with 30 lives lost during 2014, almost twice as many as in 2013. An increasing number of fatalities among children has been a particularly worrying trend. The incidence of non-fatal injuries is also very high and owing to under-reporting may not be fully represented in the statistics. The risks to which those who work and live on farms are exposed are many. Tractors and machinery account for almost half of fatal accidents, but livestock, working at a height, slurry tanks and electricity also pose a significant danger.

The delegates who will present to the committee today represent a wide range of roles, interests and experience in agriculture. We will hear from State bodies, farmers’ representative organisations and organisations with a commercial focus, while community representatives, including those with direct experience of the tragedy of farm fatalities and serious injury, will contribute also. We will also have youth and medical perspectives. Many of those who have made submissions to the committee are already playing an active part in improving the level of farm safety.

The discussions we will have will allow us to consider positive actions but also to identify the weaknesses that need to be addressed. Following the meeting a draft report will be prepared by our committee rapporteur, Senator Martin Conway. The committee will review the draft report and publish its final report as soon as possible, I hope in the next few weeks.

The meeting will consist of six sessions, during each of which representatives of a few groups will make short presentations. When the presentations in each session have finished, there will be time for questions and comments from Senators and responses from delegates. The first group is from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the committee will hear from departmental officials. The Department supports the work of the Health and Safety Authority which has primary responsibility for health and safety and assists in the promotion of safe farming practices. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, has taken several initiatives to support improved safety on farms. The Department is represented by Mr. Bill Callanan, senior inspector, nitrates, biodiversity and engineering division, and Dr. Robert Leonard, agricultural inspector.

Witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the evidence they give to the committee. However, if they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to so do, they will thereafter be entitled only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person, by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I invite Mr. Callanan to address the committee.

Mr. Bill Callanan:

Good afternoon. I thank the Senators for inviting the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to make a presentation on farm safety at the Seanad Public Consultation Committee. The Minister, Deputy Coveney and the Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, regret their unavailability to attend this afternoon and wish to convey their support for the public consultation on this critically important area of farm safety. On behalf of the Department, we also offer our condolences to all families who have been affected by a fatal farm accident.

To date this year, there have been three fatal accidents on Irish farms. This follows a very difficult year in 2014, when 30 people lost their lives on Irish farms due to workplace accidents. These three fatal farm accidents account for 60% of all fatal work accidents so far in 2015, while farming accounts for less than 6% of the workforce. While the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, has primary responsibility for occupational health, safety and welfare in the workplace, including on farms, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine supports the work of the agency in promoting safer and healthier farming practices. The Department is an active member of the farm safety partnership advisory committee, FSPAC, which is run by the Health and Safety Authority. Established in 2002, the farm safety partnership advisory committee is a sub-committee of the board of the Health and Safety Authority. Members of the committee actively work to promote safe farming practices. The FSPAC is chaired by a board member of the HSA, currently Professor James Phelan, and reports at every meeting of the board. These reports include the actions taken by each member organisation to reduce the number of deaths in the workplace. This committee also advises the HSA on farm safety.

A number of actions have been taken by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the most significant being the Minister's recent launch of a farm safety scheme on 22 October 2014. This scheme, with a dedicated fund of €12.2 million, attracted 6,299 applications and all valid applications will be approved. Specifically, this scheme supports improvements on farms aimed at addressing safety risks. Equipment for safe cattle handling and electrical work are the most popular items to date in terms of approvals issued. All work under the farm safety scheme must be completed and a payment claim lodged with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine by 31 August, 2015. A further farm safety scheme including a wider range of items will be made available under the 2014-20 rural development programme, RDP.

In addition to the farm safety schemes, there will also be a mandatory health and safety element as part of all the knowledge transfer groups under the 2014-20 rural development programme. These knowledge transfer groups bring together small groups of farmers working with an agricultural adviser on their own farms with a strong emphasis on shared learning experiences. It is expected that this initiative will reach 27,000 farms over the course of the RDP period. Over the last four years, a farm safety leaflet has also been included with the single farm payment application packs, which are sent to over 130,000 farmers every year. This is a joint initiative between the Department, the HSA and the farm safety partnership advisory committee. This leaflet has targeted different risks in each year and this year is focused on machinery safety. There are approximately 140,000 individual farms employing approximately 6% of the workforce. Each farmer must be reached and encouraged to manage farm safety.

Research has shown that farmers are aware of health and safety issues and the real pressure is to drive behavioural change. This change has already occurred in other sectors. For instance, during the construction of Glanbia's new milk processing plant at Belview, County Kilkenny, there were only two minor accidents over the course of the whole building project. It is now time to ensure equally good outcomes in health and safety for farms supplying the plant and indeed all farms. By the nature of their work, farmers have to be able to undertake a wide variety of tasks. However, they need to ensure they know how to safely complete the required tasks. The "I have always done it this way" or "It will not happen to me" attitude needs to be eliminated. Although farming can be a dangerous occupation, most dangers can be reduced or eliminated by using the correct equipment in the correct manner. Machinery is getting bigger and animals are getting less used to being handled. Even the milking of dairy cows can be undertaken with robots.

Farms are active businesses and farmers need to invest in ongoing maintenance and upgrading of facilities to ensure a safe working environment. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has particularly supported the raising of awareness of this serious issue and has taken every opportunity to highlight the importance of changing behaviour on farms and making farming a safer occupation for all.

As a farm is a dynamic, ever-changing environment and in the majority of cases includes the family home, such changes in attitude are considered to be most critical in addressing the unacceptable number of farm fatalities.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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It is time for questions from the members of the committee. All submissions received will be incorporated in the committee's report in order to synopsise and highlight the important points. Both the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, were very interested in attending this meeting but it was not possible to arrange a date suitable for them and we have had to move on without them, unfortunately. It should be recognised that the senior Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, both expressed an interest but we could not find a date to suit everybody and none the less they have expressed their keen interest in this topic.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the gentlemen. I share the Chairman's disappointment that the Ministers were not in a position to attend as I know they are committed to this issue. The hard questions are the ones we would like to ask the Ministers and we do not necessarily want to ask the witnesses hard questions. With that in mind, however, the witnesses are public servants of many years standing. I put it to them that it is only recently that the Department has taken the issue of farm safety seriously, given the spiralling number of deaths on farms. Approximately 400,000 people in this country live on farms. How would the witnesses react if I was to say that I have read the submissions and there seems to be a clear conflict between the various submissions we have received? For example, farming associations do not want to see legislative measures or penalties as such; they want to see education and awareness and a change in habits. However, submissions from the Health and Safety Authority suggest that it would like to see more penalties - that may be the wrong word - some sort of fines or prosecutions, perhaps. I would like to hear the witnesses' thoughts in this regard.

Second, with regard to the issue of farm safety, would it be preferable for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine if this issue was to be the responsibility of an independent organisation that could bring the various organisations together? For example, I refer to a one-stop-shop which would be independent of all the agencies but working with them and with the sole remit of farm safety and able to make recommendations binding on the Department as well as on other operators, as opposed to the Department and the Health and Safety Authority dealing with it. Would it be better to have one organisation to which the Department and other agencies would report and co-operate with, as opposed to the current structure?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I propose that the questions from members be banked. I call Senator Comiskey and I ask him to be brief.

Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael)
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I will be very brief.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Comiskey is usually brief in his questions. He is an excellent contributor.

Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the people from the Department to the meeting. This is a very important topic. I also welcome the people from the farming organisations. We all know that it is very important to highlight the issue of farm safety and there have been far too many deaths on farms over the past year. Our condolences go to the families of those people who have been lost.

I am actively involved in farming and I was farming this morning before I left home. I fed a very dangerous cow that calved on Friday - these are the things that need to be highlighted - because we could not go into her pen for about two or three days. Some farmers do not realise the dangers and they will walk in and the next thing they are penned against a wall or seriously injured.

I welcome the farm safety scheme that was introduced by the Department several months ago, because it will encourage farmers to put in place slag covers, safety gates for handling cattle and all that. The question now, as alluded to by Senator Conway, is how we implement the recommendations that are coming forward. We all have our own ideas about that. It is very important we raise awareness of the issues among young people in schools and agricultural colleges. We have seen through the environment projects in schools how young children will tell their parents about the importance of recycling and so on. If we create an awareness among children of the relevant issues, it will be helpful into the future. We should avoid imposing more inspections and red tape on farmers in the course of their duty, because they are doing a very difficult job. We must, however, make farmers aware of the risks. The big question, as I said, is how we move on from here with that end in view.

Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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When we have completed our report, we will have statements in the House which will be attended by the Minister. It is for this reason we decided to proceed with these hearings despite the Minister's lack of availability. As I said, he will be in the House when we discuss the report we intend to publish after hearing representations from all the organisations that have made submissions.

In regard to the inclusion of a farm safety aspect in all training courses conducted under the rural environment protection scheme, what type of response has the Department had to these training courses? In the case of text alerts to farmers aimed at increasing awareness of safety issues, has there been feedback on the success of that approach?

In the ten years from 2004 to 2014, the majority of farm deaths - 96 - involved vehicles and machinery. Are they the consequence of old machinery and, if so, might a grant scheme be introduced to replace old machinery, or would Mr. Callanan say it is more about poor practices?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I invite Mr. Callanan to respond to that group of questions.

Mr. Bill Callanan:

Senator Conway referred to legislation. To clarify, there is legislation in place since 2005 which indicates the farms which are subject to that legislation. It is important to note that. Principally, however, we tend to leave decisions in this regard to the Health and Safety Authority. The Department tends to focus on attitude and behavioural change and supporting engineered changes on farms through the grant scheme. Our concern is to create a safer environment for farmers through support with, for example, rewiring, slat replacement and fencing. These are engineered actions on the farm that create a better work environment.

On the question of the independence of relevant organisations, the Department works very strongly with the farm safety partnership advisory committee, a sub-committee of the board of the Health and Safety Authority, and my colleague, Dr. Robert Leonard, is a member of the committee. That forum brings all the partners into one room, including representatives of Teagasc, the farm bodies and companies like FBD, under the chairmanship of the HSA. It creates an avenue for a combined approach to addressing issues and bringing things to light. Each body has its individual responsibilities, but that forum facilitates a combined and united approach.

Senator Comiskey asked about recommendations for the future.

The Minister has shown a strong interest in any recommendations that might emanate from this committee and we will certainly consider what is the most appropriate organisation for their implementation.

Participation in REPS and the knowledge transfer groups is voluntary. Farmers self-select if they want to participate but once they participate there is a mandatory element. They cannot avoid being exposed to farm safety training if they decide to join the schemes. Some 60,000 farmers in REPS would have been in this category and there are 27,000 in the knowledge transfer groups who will now have a greater safety requirement. Representatives of Teagasc are present today and 30,000 of their farmers would have done a mandatory half-day course on the completion of the code of practice to identify the various risks.

In my view, text alerts have proved successful. We are hitting some 90,000 farmers and we use them in a number of different areas. Our belief is that farmers are more attuned to using texts than written letters and there is more likely to be a recognition of the objective of a text because it is quite short and sharp in comparison to a lengthy letter, which may just be fired into the dustbin. As with any such system, however, people become immune to texts if they are overused.

There is no doubt that older farmers are more at risk and the statistics show that 40% of deaths are of older farmers. One can reasonably expect that younger farmers who have accidents are more likely to survive. Their injuries may be serious but not fatal, whereas for older people an injury such as those sustained when dealing with a cow post-calving is more likely to be fatal. The Department has many different measures to support generational change within farms to bring younger farmers into play. For example, the young farmer schemes provide priority access to entitlements under the single farm payment. Under the next grant schemes there will be a dedicated expenditure on farmers under 40 years of age and this will encourage the involvement of younger farmers, who tend to have fewer accidents. Younger farmers will also have been subject to training under FETAC level 6 and will have had exposure to health and safety training as part of their general agricultural education. Many of these measures will be positive in helping to reduce accident rates among farmers.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I thank the witnesses for coming today. I am not from a farming background and the closest I get to a farm is when I drive past one but a number of issues concern me. Senator Cummins referred to the 96 deaths on farms in the past ten years. The terrible thing about a death on a farm is that a farm is a living thing and families have to go on living there after a fatality, frequently having to pass a point where a fatality occurred. On Saturday, I heard a moving story on RTE on that particular subject.

I have relations who are farmers and I am concerned at the very young age at which family members are put into machinery such as monstrous tractors. At this time of the year a lot of machinery will be moved around and I sometimes feel it is far more dangerous in fields than it is on roads.

Sometimes I feel that it is far more dangerous in fields than it is on the roads. That is one of the things about which I am concerned.

Another concern relates to the area of innovation and how long it takes the Department to appraise and grant aid a new safety device or procedure when somebody comes up with an innovation. To pick up again on something that was said on Saturday morning, a device was designed to prevent people falling into slurry pits, especially when the pits are agitated. Has that been brought to the Department's attention? Has it been seen by the Department and is it providing grant aid for it?

I listen to the radio show every Saturday morning and I compliment the Department as it comes out of it well every time. However, somehow or other the information that is available online does not seem to be getting the hits from farmers. A comparison was made between an issue that came up on social media and a safety issue which showed that the social media issue got more hits than the safety issue. That concerns me. I am delighted to hear the text messaging system is working.

The final area on which I wish to focus relates to education. Every farming community is within striking distance of a local education and training board, ETB, school. Does the Department see a role for liaison between the ETBs and the Department in order to deliver basic safety training? At the gate of every farm a notice should display the number of accident-free days as that would focus people on the dangers that exist as they arrive on a farm, but more importantly, it would remind the farmer every day that he or she is living in a dangerous environment.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I call Senator Coghlan. We are running over time already.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I very much welcome this exercise today. It is very important and timely that we examine farm safety. I thank everyone for their worthwhile submissions. As someone who drove a horse and cart to the creamery for three months for each of five summers-----

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Coghlan-----

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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That was a long time ago.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I am a jack of all trades and perhaps master of none. I then tackled a buckrake to a Fordson Major, picked up cocks of hay and later brought in bales with a trailer. I thank my lucky stars and the man above - I had a great guardian angel - when I think of some near misses that I had in my youth. Thankfully, we were not as concerned then with health and safety as is the case now. I lost a friend last year, a poor man from Firies, who was pinned overnight by his tractor and was not discovered until the following day. Is there any way we could mandatorily immobilise tractors in order that as soon as a person steps off it, the throttle would go off? Am I correct in saying that many of the accidents in the past year in particular occurred with tractors and moving machinery? Has the matter been examined?

Mr. Bill Callanan:

Yes.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I would recommend that we would do something in that area if it is not already in hand. I look forward to hearing a response in that regard from Mr. Callanan and Dr. Leonard.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Coghlan. I wish to add a few brief questions before we conclude this tranche of the meeting. When young farmers do their green certificate or take part in the new grant scheme, is it mandatory that a day is set aside for farm safety training and coaching? If a worker goes onto a building site, whether he is 30, 40 or 50 years old he will not be allowed on the site if he has not completed a safety certificate. The regulations have become very strict in that regard, which is proper order. The best approach to take is to educate young farmers, be they male or female, when they are starting off because when one learns something at a young age it stays with one. It is very hard to get an old farmer or even an old politician to change tack. We are fairly stuck in our ways. Is there a mandatory farm safety element in the training process under the REP or GLAS schemes or what was known as the old green certificate course which young farmers completed in order to avail of the exemption from stamp duty among other things? If not, why not?

My other worry is based on my having a farming background and living in west Cork. There is concern among farm organisations about over-regulation. While we must have regulation, farmers to whom I speak daily are concerned about over-regulation and red tape in farming. The intention of this committee is not to seek extra regulation; we are trying to shine a light on the fact that last year 40 people died on farms, which is 40 too many. Is there a way of proceeding by way of education rather than introducing another tranche of regulation, which is very burdensome for the farming community?

Mr. Bill Callanan:

I will answer Senator Coghlan's questions on young people operating machinery. A young person can drive an agricultural vehicle on the road from the age of 16. FRS Network runs a course for young farmers on being prepared for the management of machinery. I understand it is supported financially by FBD, and the HSA might refer to this during its session.

On the question of innovation and the country-wide programme, I will allow my colleague to answer on whether it is covered.

Dr. Robert Leonard:

The safety cage for agitation points is going to be covered under the next safety scheme. We are aware of it. We are just doing a little more analysis on it to make sure it is as sturdy as it appears. It will be included.

Mr. Bill Callanan:

Let me give the members a warning on that. The process of approval is prompt in that we are very open. We are mindful, however, that some initiatives proposed for grant aid are designed to address inadequacies of a basic nature that should be addressed elsewhere. A particular example concerns the internal agitation of slurry. There have been a number of proposals made recommending the supporting of machinery that will assist, but the Department's stance has been that one should cure the basic problem, which is that one should not have an internal agitation point. It needs to be externalised. With regard to many of the proposals that are made, we are amenable to what can be supported but mindful that some recommendations can address the symptom rather than the problem in the first instance.

There has been a fantastic upswing in the use of online services by farmers, particularly the more intensive and younger farmers. I have responsibility for nitrates. We have moved to a fully online application process. Last year, before it became fully online, 85% were using the online system. Another example is that there are now over 1 million calves registered online. This is half the total calf number registered online so farmers are certainly involved with the online system, although perhaps not as much as we would like regarding the safety aspect.

I take on board the comments on the number of accident-free days of the farm. I have seen businesses identify the number. Glanbia publicised heavily the fact that there were only two minor accidents in its whole building, a plant worth €165 million. We need to reflect this on farms.

Certain tractors have immobilisers. I know of plant used in the construction industry that requires the use of grips. One must remember there is not just one set of controls in a tractor so it might be difficult to design a system that requires a constant action. Certainly, however, we take on board what is proposed and will consider it.

The Chairman asked about the mandatory period. Teagasc will answer that question during its session here. My understanding is that anybody acquiring a green certificate must do a mandatory farm safety element. This is not a prerequisite for obtaining a farm safety grant, if that is what the Senator is suggesting.

The requirement to have had that part of training in advance is not currently in place. If the Chairman's suggestion is that farmers who avail of grants might be required to have that training in advance, the answer is that they are not currently required to do so.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Is it something that Mr. Callanan might consider in future?

Mr. Bill Callanan:

It is certainly something we will take away from today's meeting. We are mindful that we have to be able to administer it. When something is included as a condition of any scheme, we must be able to verify and audit to the European Commission standard to confirm that the control and compliance is there, if it is a necessary element of gaining a grant. It is always a balance in terms of what one requires versus what one can control.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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May I mention two small issues?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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We are considerably over time.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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Very quickly. First, on the quad bikes, we are now back where we were with tractors in the 1960s, with regard to what happens if one of those rolls over and a person is trapped under it.

Second, I was referring to 12 to 15 year olds using heavy farm machinery on the land, not on the road.

Mr. Bill Callanan:

Children under 14 are not allowed to and should not be driving that machinery.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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They should be under parental control as well. I am sorry, but we are running out of time so we cannot continue with that. There will be no cows milked tonight if we keep going the way we are. I sincerely thank Mr. Bill Callanan and Dr. Robert Leonard for their assistance with this part of the discussion.

Our next tranche of the farm organisations includes the IFA, the ICMSA and the ICSA. We will take them one after the other. I ask all the witnesses to take their seats now because we will roll one into the other. Before hearing the oral evidence, I draw the attention of witnesses to the fact that by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. However, if they are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and they continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. Witnesses are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and they are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person, persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable.

The first of the three farming organisations is the Irish Farmers' Association. The IFA is the largest farming organisation in Ireland, with nearly 90,000 members nationwide. The IFA is represented here today by its president, Mr. Eddie Downey, and Ms Maura Canning. I will give Mr. Downey five minutes, or as close as possible, to make his case. I do not want to be too strict on anyone, however. Ar aghaidh leat, Mr. Downey.

Mr. Eddie Downey:

I thank the Chairman and other Senators. I have a written submission but I will try to go through it as quickly as possible. It is excellent that this committee has met today to discuss farm safety, which is a major issue for us. I have already made it our main issue within the IFA for 2015. Throughout the year we will be making farm safety a top priority.

Ms Maura Canning is the chairperson of our farm family and social affairs committee. Her committee is charged with looking after this whole area and ensuring it is kept in farmers' minds as much as possible, and in public awareness, to ensure that we can make farms safe. I have met every one of the officers within the organisation and have told them quite clearly that there must be a farm safety element in every presentation made at meetings. It is absolutely essential to get that message out there.

Last year was an absolute disaster from farmers’ point of view with 29 people losing their lives on family farms. We have to think of that as 29 farm families sitting down to Christmas dinner with an empty chair at the table. We cannot contemplate this high rate of farm fatalities happening again. It is the highest rate in years and is a significant problem. One also has to take into account the effect on those who survived a farm accident, their families and the way they have to change their business.

There is a huge responsibility on us all, particularly those involved in the agribusiness sector, to deal with this. We need to change attitudes and mindsets to make farming safer. We have to start to think “Safety First” through work practices, awareness and to reduce risks as we farm. One typical example of that is that if one has a tractor with the loader up and a spike on it, it is a lethal weapon. If the loader is dropped to the ground with the points down, it is safe. A tractor with the handbrake off is a lethal weapon. If it is pulled, it is safe. These are simple measures which we can do and we need to raise awareness of these.

That is why we put forward our Save Lives, Think Safety campaign across the country. We have issued 95,000 calendars with the farm safety message across them. Every day, one is reminded of the need for farm safety. We are distributing farm safety pens, leaflets and tractor stickers with every membership package. Every month, we publish a farm safety message in the IFA page in the Irish Farmers’ Journal. We are also working with the co-ops and agribusinesses to get the message across, along with the Acorn Group, which represents 11 major grain, feed and fertiliser merchants, which has promotional posters for farm safety on its trucks, fertiliser bags and other packaging. We have been heavily involved in farm safety day. This year 21 July is designated as farm safety day.

While raising awareness and education on the matter is the best way forward, risk assessment is critically important on every farm and we want every family involved in this. It is not just good enough for a farmer to tick the boxes. We want the mothers involved because they will also show family members the dangers on the farm. If we get a collective family effort, we can raise more awareness and resolve this problem. Teagasc research shows that age and behaviour are the main risks in farm safety. We have to target information through an education campaign in which farmers take responsibility for their own farms. Every farmer knows a farm is a dangerous place but they do not think their own farm is dangerous. We need to change that attitude and to get them to think defensively. They need to think that when they leave the kitchen in the morning that their objective, along with every other person working on the farm, is not necessarily to get the work done but to get back to the kitchen safely that evening. That is why they need to farm and be defensive towards safety.

Internationally, regulations, sanctions and legislation for farm safety have not worked, have had limited impact and have not changed behaviour. We are opposed to this whole area as we believe bringing in cross-compliance to the single farm payment would actually increase stress levels on farmers. If a health and safety inspector came onto my farm, as they have done in the past, and fined or sanctioned me, then they are an enemy. What we need, as has happened in the past, is for the inspector to help farmers make farms safer. We need advocates to resolve this problem, not people who penalise farmers.

We believe that linking it to the single farm payment would lead to increased stress, which leads to ill health, a tendency to take short cuts, and accidents. This debate on the single farm payment and sanctions is an unnecessary distraction and needs to be taken out of the system. It is not a solution to the problem and we need to move forward from that.

The evidence is there. If we want to change something, we need people who are willing to change. Am I out of time?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Almost.

Mr. Eddie Downey:

We need people who are willing to change. There is no reason to worry about the agricultural sector. Farmers are willing to change. Look at the uptake of the farm safety scheme. It involves 6,500 farmers. In respect of health and safety research, there is strong attention to changing attitudes and working safely. I welcome the opportunity to be here today. In respect of the work being carried out by the Health and Safety Authority and discussion groups, education is the best way forward. Young, educated people have raised income levels on farms by 50%. It would be a good step if we could repeat that increase in respect of safety and reduce deaths and accidents for the rest of this year.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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We will now hear from the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, ICMSA, which represents dairy and livestock farmers and lobbies at local, national and EU level. The ICMSA is represented today by its president, Mr. John Comer, and Ms Mary Buckley. I will allow Mr. Comer five or six minutes to make his presentation. If any of the speakers wish to emphasise a particular point when questions are asked, they are entitled to come back in by way of replying to an answer. I am sure there will be a lot of questions coming their way. I invite Mr. Comer to proceed.

Mr. John Comer:

The ICMSA welcomes the opportunity to shine a torch on where the focus and investment should be in trying to avoid fatalities. Members might say I have a vested interest in this, and they would be right because, number one, I am a farmer, and number two, I want to stay alive. It is in the interest of everybody participating in farming every day of the week to try to find a pragmatic approach so that they stand the best chance of getting back into the same bed they got out of in the morning. The statistic that a person is eight times more likely to die on an Irish or European farm than in any other occupation is shocking and damning. There should be an onus on all stakeholders to find a workable solution.

First, I wish to back up Mr. Downey with regard to representing and being an advocate for farmers. We have 18 statutory management requirements relating to cross-compliance. This puts farmers under enormous stress. We can blame many things, but what primarily puts farmers at risk is the adoption of a "bigger, cheaper, faster" policy. Farmers are becoming busier. They need more livestock numbers to be economically viable and have far more paperwork. A full-time farmer on the average farm now dedicates one day per week to paperwork. If we add in another layer and another plethora of potential inspections, paperwork and sanctions to the single farm payment, it will heap stress upon stress and will be a retrograde step. We support the endeavours of the Health and Safety Authority to encourage inspections and to bring people along with the carrot approach rather than the stick approach, because we know this will work. Anybody here today who expects a quick fix is in the wrong forum. It will take a generation to turn this around. Ireland has 15.1 fatalities per 100,000. The average in Europe is 12 per 100,000. We are on the wrong side of that statistic, but it is similar across the rest of Europe. The nature of the occupation involves multitasking and always being in a hurry, which puts many farmers at risk. The ICMSA has put a lot of emphasis on knowledge transfer and the discussion groups, in which people engage with their peer groups and visit other farms.

As has been pointed out, a person does not see risk on their own farm, but as soon as they walk into somebody else's situation, because they are not looking at the bullocks which need to be fed, they focus on the overview. Knowledge transfer through visiting other farms is of primary importance to learn the triggers for very dangerous elements.

With regard to upgrading farm equipment, there is room in the farm safety scheme for a scrappage scheme and we propose the committee should examine this. It would give an incentive to farmers and business people to make the first move to replace outdated equipment and machinery which could potentially be death traps. We also want the forum to examine the green low-carbon agri-environmental scheme, GLAS, which does not have a farm safety element. It is difficult enough for the more intensive farms, where most accidents occur, to access GLAS because there are not enough measures to draw down payments to make it worth their while. We need to encourage the Minister and the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to examine incorporating a measure to deal with this.

With regard to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF, and livestock docility, angry cows, angry bulls and difficult to manage livestock make a big contribution to farm accidents. We need to focus on genomic selection and the data available from the ICBF on breeding in docility and the hereditary aspect of this gene and ensure farmers have this tool at their disposal when they access the indices in order that they can breed quieter and more manageable stock.

I do not want to be like RTE and provide for repeats. Much of the rest of our submission has been outlined. This is the first time I have heard about placing a sign at a farm gate and I do not like the idea. It would be too poignant for many family members who have lost someone to have a sign stating how many days the farm has been accident free. It is by the grace of God many of us have not gone there. It sounds like a boast to put up a big sign to state a farm is 2,000 days accident free. It does not wash. This is my initial reaction, but I have not studied it in depth.

Three times a year we distribute a newsletter to all dairy farmers, and we always highlight farm safety. Our slogan is it is better to lose one minute in life than to lose your life in one minute. I wish the forum the very best and we will try to make as positive a contribution as we can. My colleague, our policy officer, Mary Buckley, has put much work into research which may come up with some solutions as to how we can make the industry safer.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The next group in this tranche is the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA, representing drystock farmers with a view to identifying and responding to key issues concerning the beef and lamb sectors. The representatives are Mr. Patrick Kent, the president, and Mr. Eddie Punch. I will allow Mr. Kent the same latitude as other speakers. I apologise for the fact that not all the witnesses could sit on the front bench. I have spent all my life trying to get onto the front bench and I still have not made it.

Mr. Patrick Kent:

I thank the Chairman. The ICSA welcomes this opportunity to appear before the committee. Farm safety is very important and we feel immense sympathy for the families of those who have died as a result of farm related accidents. We must avoid knee-jerk responses to what was an exceptionally bad year for fatalities. While fatalities grab the headlines, we must look at the wider context of overall health, safety and well-being. Farmers are suffering and even dying from stress-related illnesses, but this receives much less attention. We suggest much of the commentary on farm fatalities is based on relatively narrow and inappropriate levels of statistical information, and inappropriate comparisons have been made. Is it appropriate to compare agricultural figures with figures from other sectors, such as manufacturing, retail, professional or construction? It is comparing apples with oranges. The only worthwhile and meaningful assessment of where we are is to compare farms in other EU member states. Irish farm fatality rates are neither better nor worse than comparable EU averages. An example of the difficulties associated with placing too much emphasis on fatality figures is that while the 2014 figure of 30 fatalities was the highest in more than 20 years, the figure for the previous year was well below average at 16. Fatality numbers decreased in each consecutive year from 2010 to 2013.

One exceptionally bad year does not confirm a trend. It is fair to say there are unique circumstances around farming that do not prevail in other sectors, including the unpredictable nature of livestock challenges posed by working in solitary conditions; the older age profile of the agricultural workforce and low farm incomes linked with price take. I would like to speak briefly about each of these sectors.

On the unpredictable nature of livestock challenges, a typical example would be the challenge of working with freshly calved animals which are unpredictable and frequently dangerous. Top-class animal handling facilities such as calving gates help, but they have limitations. The farmer must get the animal into the facility which may be a danger point. Following calving, the animal must be released to become familiar with the newborn calf. If the calf does not suck, the farmer must intervene or the animal will die. It is easy to say the farmer should put his or her own life before that of the animal, but the reality is that if he or she does not intervene on a regular basis, the result will be the death of a number of animals. The risk is multiplied at peak calving time when several calvings might happen within 24 hours, leading to exhaustion. For many farmers, in the peak calving season they are required to work 18-hour shifts. The economics of farming do not allow for shift work such as pertains in factories where there might be three-cycle shifts.

Aside from calving, there is always a risk attached to animals which, in some cases, is next to impossible to foresee. In 2014 a farmer was killed when an animal, having been startled by cats, stampeded across a field and trampled her and another woman. The increase in suckler cow numbers, combined with part-time farming, is creating potential risk as suckler cow derived animals are more unpredictable. Part-time farming increases further the incidents of dangerous cattle that are not used to human interaction.

On solitary working conditions, unlike other workplaces, the vast majority of farming activity is carried out by single operators who are often under pressure from weather conditions or in having to deal with emergencies such as cows calving. The problem is made worse by the fact that many farmers, owing to income issues, have to work off-farm and squeeze in their farming work during the evening or at weekends.

One approach to farm safety is to enforce industrial or construction site standards on farm workplaces. However, it is necessary to consider that work practice norms in factories, offices or construction sites are generally influenced and facilitated by the number of people present at work. The advantage of specialisation and having well defined job roles allow an approach that is not easily replicated on a farm. There is little doubt that a huge amount of the work carried out on a farm by a solitary individual would not be permitted in an industrial setting or on a building site. The nature of farming requires each farmer to be a jack of all trades. The relentless squeezing of farm incomes during the years means that there are fewer opportunities to hire outside help. Where a machine breaks down and the weather is due to break, there is immense pressure to get things fixed instantly. If a call out repair service is available, it is typically unavailable when a farmer wants to make hay. As dealing with all breakdowns is urgent, farmers tend to undertake the job themselves.

Another unique factor is the age profile of farmers. Of the 30 fatalities in 2014, six involved individuals in their 70s, while four were in their 80s. Some 50% of fatal accidents in 2011 involved farmers over the age of 65 years. In excess of 40% of fatalities in five of the past ten years involved farmers aged over 65 years. In other sectors retirement policy would preclude people of this age from continuing to work. The implication might be that older farmers should retire, but in the view of the ICSA this would be utterly wrong. Older farmers are obviously more vulnerable to livestock accidents, but this is counterbalanced by the reality that farmers who continue to be active in their later years derive benefit from it in terms of physical fitness and mental well-being. Unquestionably, the ideal model is where an older farmer retains an involvement in farming alongside a young farmer, either a successor or a farm partner. In many situations poor income prospects in farming mean that there is no successor on the farm. Better facilities for handling animals are a necessity, but the reality may be that the most vulnerable older farmers cannot afford them. The introduction of tax incentives to encourage long-term leasing and the emerging focus on farm partnerships may lead to some older farmers moving away from farming on their own into old age. These initiatives are welcome.

Low farm incomes is a huge issue. Those who expect farmers to produce far below the cost of production or have insanely difficult levels of productivity must own up to their responsibilities. We now hear that a single operator can look after more than 100 dairy cows.

We know farmers are price-takers and the returns from cattle farming are not sufficient for state-of-the-art facilities that minimise risk. It is fair enough to say that every power take-off shaft should be replaced or covered. How does a cost of several hundred euro compare with the taking of a life? There is also the need to replace all swinging doors with sliding doors, which could involve a cost of several thousand euro. The oldest tractors should also be upgraded and indoor agitation points should be replaced with outdoor points. Electrical work might also need to be upgraded, and this could lead to many thousands of euro being spent on many farms. This is easy in theory but not if one wishes to put bread on the table and the bank refuses an extension to an overdraft, for example.

We believe the following proposals can make a significant improvement in this respect. The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association has highlighted the education of children as being vital, and it should be on a curriculum, in combination with road safety, etc. Staying alive is the most important lesson that children can learn. More reflection on low incomes in farming is required by policymakers at an EU and national level, and it is unacceptable that the EU Commission or the Government would threaten to cut EU supports for safety shortcomings when there are general reductions to farm incomes caused by policy decisions, such as the closure of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme, a reduction in Pillar 1 payments and insufficient action against multinational traders taking more margin from product and making it more difficult for farmers to ensure that all facilities and equipment are top class and up to date. We submit that a cut to supports worsens this problem and extra funding for farm safety grants is instead required, particularly given that the most recent scheme has been oversubscribed. Discussion groups were mentioned by a previous speaker and they are a major help. There is also the matter of ongoing education awareness through farm organisations and Teagasc, the minimising of stress and prioritising mental health issues.

I will conclude with the following thought. The ongoing squeeze on farm margins by processors and retailers, along with increasing stress levels caused by bureaucracy, cannot escape its share of blame. The message to farmers is to "get busy" producing more but there comes a point when something must give.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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My position as Chairman is a bit like a referee. We do not always get it right but we often get the blame if things go wrong. I ask those who now wish to speak to direct a question at one of the organisations rather than everybody. We could have a bit of cohesion with such an approach.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank each of the speakers, who have put forward very powerful positions on the issue. I would take heed of what they say more than many of the other people as these are the representative organisations of farmers. We all agree with the comment about farm inspectors being advocates. What do the witnesses think should be done by the Department and the Health and Safety Authority that is not being done now? Should a specific recommendation be carried through that has not yet been made? The various initiatives are admirable, as is the co-operation with industry and so forth. Nevertheless, we will ultimately have to write a report making specific recommendations. Will the witnesses outline one or two issues that are an absolute priority and which should be completed as a matter of urgency?

Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael)
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I thank the representatives of the organisations for being here. Perhaps I will be making comments rather than asking questions. I wholeheartedly agree with the president of the Irish Farmers Association, Mr. Eddie Downey, as it is vital that the HSA works with the farmer and educates rather than penalising him or her. That is key. My colleague, Senator Coughlan, mentioned the possibility of a device to disable a tractor or machine and some time ago I heard of a cable that could be used to attach to an implement. If there was a problem with the power take-off shaft, the engine would be stalled immediately. It should be simple to operate such a device, which would be very beneficial.

We are heavily involved with knowledge transfer processes with the sheep and beef discussion groups. There will be much more of that taking place with the new regime of payments coming in for farmers. The green, low-carbon, agri-environment scheme, GLAS, has also been mentioned. Knowledge transfer among farmers is crucial and these issues must be pointed out when farmers visit other farms. The witness spoke about having a loader with a spike in a raised position. I have walked into farms and notice shear grab implements open in the raised position. They are deadly in such a position.

It is crucially important we learn from each other.

Paul Bradford (Renua Ireland)
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I welcome the delegations. My question probably relates more to the IFA and the ICMSA from a milk production perspective. We are all aware that milk output and milk processing will increase very dramatically in the short to medium term, or that is to what we aspire as a nation, and, accordingly, activity on dairy farms across the country will increase fairly dramatically. As the ICMSA delegate said, a dairy farmer is expected to milk 100 cows to be economic. Given that this is a known-known, that is, that we will have such a major increase in dairy activity, are there any safety areas we should address in the short term? Would the delegates like to make proposals in that regard?

Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent)
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I thank the delegates for coming in. I will direct my question to the IFA president. I have listened to all the excellent presentations and we need time and money. What collaboration exists between all the organisations, the Government and the HSA? Are they splintered? There is no doubt from listening to delegates that they would have great power if they could all come together. Is the HSA's risk register part of all the organisations' thinking? Do they ask farmers to complete that? In regard to the Save Lives, Think Safety, Farm Safely campaign, did that involve all the organisations coming together because, as I said, it is more powerful if they act as one.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I take the ICMSA's point about having so many days accident free. Maybe a sign like that is not quite the way of getting it across. However, I think there should be very visible signage around farms, in particular for people like myself who visit farms but who have no great knowledge of the dangers of the machinery, of slurry tanks and so on.

In regard to the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association, I was particularly struck by the education for children point in its statement. Maybe today is not the day but perhaps it will e-mail me at some stage in regard to what it would like to see on the curriculum in terms of education and where it starts. Does it start at national school and go the whole way through? Should we have some sort of certification for education of children in farming communities? I acknowledge the point made about the squeeze on prices from both sides, so to speak, and the bureaucracy involved. Bureaucracy is killing many of the industries in our country. We just heard today that a farmer spends a whole day on the administration side of his or her business. I sympathise with the delegates. Do they have any ideas as to how we might limit the bureaucracy? There is not a lot we can do about the economic squeeze but surely there is something we can do about bureaucracy.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I think Mr. Downey got the heavy load this time. Some of the questions were specifically directed to him.

Mr. Eddie Downey:

The first question was about what we can do now and what we can do going forward, which is really why we are all here. The first thing is to educate young people. We are fully supportive of an occupational health and safety module in all education processes. We need to educate people and to put a proper module in place in all agricultural education to cover that. The TAMS was particularly successful and 6,500 people applied for it. There is an appetite for that, so let us ensure TAMS II is for the full duration and let us get thinking on it.

We suggested a scrappage scheme for PTO shafts a long time ago, which goes along with what has been said here. Currently, if one walks into a workshop to get a cover put on a PTO shaft, the guy behind the desk will tell one that he will give one a brand new one for the same price as the cover.

As a result, one walks out with two shafts - a perfectly new shaft with a cover on it and the lethal weapon with which one came in the door in the first place. The lethal weapon should be scrapped. It is as simple as that. We need a scrappage scheme for that.

Senator Comiskey spoke about the rope or wire that goes behind the PTO shaft to stop it. We have got a lot of people thinking now that they need to stop the PTO when they get off the tractor. At least we have got that far. We really want them to stop the tractor and apply the handbrake. Everybody talks about the big cost issues in this context, but these things do not cost money. We should not put cost in front of this as a problem. It would be better to deal with the things that cost nothing first. We need to realise that money is scarce out there. It costs nothing to transmit a simple message like "stop that tractor, pull that handbrake and put down that loader". That is what we need to do.

Senator Bradford spoke about the increase in milk activity. I suggest we can work quite safely along the way and make things different there.

Senator Mary Ann O'Brien asked whether we are working together. Everybody in this industry and others is working together. There is no division on this, as far as I can see. Teagasc, the Health and Safety Authority, everybody represented at this meeting and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are working together to try to reduce the number of deaths. The aim of all the campaigns is to save lives. Everybody is working to the same end. There is no difficulty at all with that.

We were also asked about farm signage. I would have a difficulty with putting up signs saying that there have been no accidents. Mr. Comer quite rightly pointed out that this would be just too raw and too difficult for people on farms where there have been accidents. When I was campaigning right around the country to become president of the IFA, I was told by canvassers in many parts of the country that we should not visit a certain farm because there had been an accident there. While I do not think we need to highlight that, I agree that we need loads of other signage on farms. There is a lot of signage on farms already. Signs are put up to identify where dangers exist. We are working towards getting more signs out there for people.

Mr. John Comer:

I would like to refer back to some of the comments that have been made. I agree that the accident-free day proposal would not work. That is not to say that signage does not have a value. It certainly has a strong value. It gives a clear signal that the farmer is taking responsibility. The owner of any business has to take responsibility. That must be a key message. Nobody is trying to get off the hook here. We certainly have to take responsibility. Signage is very important in the context of the key question of how to disseminate information and make it relevant to each farmer. The ICMSA and Zurich Insurance, which are involved in the sustainable dairy quality assurance scheme, have developed new signs to be put up at the farm gate.

I would like to highlight a specific proposal that might be examined as part of any scrappage scheme. Perhaps a person who replaces a PTO shaft or buys a piece of safety equipment might be able to get some sort of VAT rebate on it, rather than having to pay 23%. It might not sound like much, but I suggest it could kickstart the idea in a person's mind that there might be something coming back from here. Perhaps that can be examined as a practical measure. I will not go back over what has already been mentioned about the knowledge transfer proposal, other than to say it might be one element of what is examined.

Mr. Patrick Kent:

I have given quite a lot of thought to the education proposal. I think a video-type module could be developed for the different age levels through primary and secondary education and maybe at a later stage also. Kids of a certain age need hazards to be identified in a very simple and basic way. We do not want to frighten them too much. We do not want them to lose sleep when they go to bed at night. We do not want horror stories to discourage them from being farmers. When we are telling children that farms can be very dangerous, we need to match what we are saying to the level of the child's intellect. A comprehensive video-type module could make it very easy for teachers to identify the possible consequences of not identifying hazards, for example. I think it could be incorporated with road safety. The most important education that children and young people can receive involves teaching them to stay alive and to stay healthy. Many aspects of modern society, including junk food and drugs, can be incorporated into the module to which I refer. Farm safety and road safety are huge issues too. The benefits of socialising, participating in sport and taking physical exercise could be emphasised as a way of addressing mental health issues. If all of these things were incorporated in a module, it would have really good benefits for society as a whole.

It needs to be done forthwith.

Ms Mary Buckley:

I wish to address the issue of education, particularly at primary level. A high percentage of children attending rural schools leave a family farm in the morning, return in the evening, dump their schoolbag inside the door and get up on a tractor or do other work. That is the reality of life on the family farm. While the curriculum provides that schools may offer a module on farm safety, this is not taken up in many schools. In 2013-14 in Northern Ireland, a farm safety programme was implemented in 93 rural schools, covering more than 12,000 children. This possibility should be considered.

As part of the transition year offered in post-primary schools, students often participate in work experience. Perhaps they should be offered similar opportunities to work on a farm. There are definitely opportunities in primary schools. We should catch children young because many of them are the farmers of the future. Transition year in secondary schools offers another ideal opportunity.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The committee does not have a monopoly on wisdom in this matter. Our role is to listen and try to help farm organisations improve the position by highlighting what is taking place. Most of those who have appeared before us, notably Mr. Kent, have referred to stress levels, bureaucracy and red tape on farms. I grew up on a farm and I do not seek to create a rural-urban divide. There is a perception, however, that farmers are hard-working people who lead a healthy lifestyle and do not experience stress or mental health problems. Modern farming is stressful. I ask the various organisations to comment briefly on the stress and bureaucracy farmers face.

I am pleased to note that the Health Service Executive and Teagasc work closely to try to improve farm safety. In private conversations with a number of individuals from farming organisations, I have been told there is enough red tape. I hope the work we are doing will not add to the bureaucracy faced by farmers as it is certainly not our intention. Perhaps Mr. Kent will make a brief comment before we conclude.

Mr. Patrick Kent:

It is imperative that farmers are recognised in society for producing the high-quality food for which Ireland is renowned. Farms are clean and green but we also want to be very safe and bring up children who are knowledgeable about and appreciative of life in rural areas. While they should not view rural life as a hazard, they also need to be aware of the hazards, including those to which I referred. It is imperative that a comprehensive educational programme is implemented. We must also make industry leaders aware of the importance of agriculture. Farmers need to be remunerated properly for all the work they do and appreciated for the fine food they produce. I have seen a slogan: "It is better to pay the farmer than the doctor." We need to appreciate the role of the farmer. The first thing we do each morning is eat breakfast. We have to appreciate quality food and those who produce it by ensuring they are protected and paid adequately.

Mr. John Comer:

Everyone who spoke referred to the 30 deaths on farms last year. We also have to face up to the 3,000 serious injuries on farms last year. As I stated, the whole dynamic has shifted towards the mantra, "Bigger, cheaper, faster". I have come from a meeting on the 2025 agrifood strategy which is making projections and recommendations for growth in agriculture. To be sustainable, primary producers and individual businesses require an economic model which reflects the fact that they need labour and cannot do everything themselves. This is not the current model.

In terms of lifestyle, there has been a shift from a lackadaisical approach where one was able to talk to one's neighbour to one of intense pressure and busyness, as it were. We also need to face up to this issue if we are to reduce the average age of farmers and make the sustainable model work all the way back to the primary producer.

Mr. Eddie Downey:

The perception is that farming is a great and stress free life. I have a 21 year old son at home who is farming with me. He grew up running after me and now I am running around the yard after him. That is the nature of the life on a farm. My 90 year old mother walks around the yard once a week or so to look at cattle or something else. If she falls in the yard, she is counted as a farm accident statistic, but if she falls when walking down the road she is counted as a road accident. Should we keep her away from doing what she does? No way, because that is what keeps her well and alive. That is the family nature of farming and what is important is to manage that.

The question was asked whether there are stress and health issues with farming. There are huge issues. Loneliness is a serious issue because farmers are working on their own on a continual basis. Without a mobile phone, they would be totally cut off. Discussion groups have played a huge part in this regard over the past period and we need to develop these groups further. They are bringing farmers to meet each other. Farmers may speak about having to go to a discussion group meeting, but these meetings get them out and have helped significantly. Group learning helps change people's attitudes unknown to them. We must continue to follow this route and work on getting farmers to meet. If one's neighbour moves on and does things matter, one tends to do the same. That is what we try to ensure. Every organisation in rural island is working to bring the numbers in regard to farm safety back in line. Even one casualty is one too many.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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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.

Mr. Connie O'Driscoll:

Go raibh maith agat. In the next few minutes, we would like to tell the committee how we finished up here in Seanad Éireann on a Monday afternoon. We would be much more at ease back on the highways and byways of west Cork, in our comfort zone.

I would like to tell the committee a bit about our club, Mizen Rovers, the programme in that club, care for our players, how that prompted us to make a submission to the committee and how the ideas in that submission might in some way help us reduce the number of fatalities. Those who suffer serious injuries have not been mentioned, but this can have an impact on the continuation of their farm business. I commend the Oireachtas on setting up this committee to deal with such a serious issue for rural Ireland. We believe it requires drastic but co-ordinated action. We need to resolve the problem because it is now a crisis.

On behalf of our club, Mizen Rovers and the community we left early this morning, I thank the Chairman for inviting us here. We feel privileged and honoured to be among the elite of the farming communities. We are from a very small GAA club at the far end of west Cork and are humbled to be here in Seanad Éireann to be part of this process. At the same time we feel it is appropriate that we should be here because we represent a GAA club and the GAA should play a big part in resolving this problem. Of course its core business is playing games but the remit for care of the players should be broadened beyond playing the games. We do not officially represent Croke Park but in a strange way we have an unofficial mandate to represent the GAA family, which is a big family in Ireland with its roots in rural Ireland. The tradition began in farming. We do not come with any statistics or figures. We come with simple suggestions that could be very effective if put into action. The fact we come from, were reared on, and have reared families on farms gives us a bit of credibility to speak on this issue. We coach kids at all levels in our GAA club and at regional level.

We made a submission for several reasons. Our area is no different from any other area. We are not immune from farm accidents and we have had tragedies in recent years and have seen their effect not only on families but on the farming community and the community that surrounds it. Often the GAA is called in to support families in that situation and it is very good at doing that. We come from a very small club at the far end of the Mizen Peninsula in west Cork, probably one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland, and we think it is the most beautiful part of the world. If one has not been there, one has not lived. It is a really nice place.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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That is right.

Mr. Connie O'Driscoll:

There are fewer than 100 players in our club, from the youngest aged six to the adult players. Our core business is hurling and football. In 2010 we began to look outside that and talk about other issues that affect our players. Our numbers are very tight and we saw the importance of the survival and health of our players from the neck up and the neck down. We need them in full health - alive - to sustain our club. We need them to be in good running order.

In 2010 we set up the care for our players programme which we think is unique to our club. We used three headings: road safety, health and well-being, and jobs and enterprise. Under health and well-being we operate an amber flag programme for suicide awareness and hold positive mental health days once a year. Under the jobs and enterprise remit we talk about promoting local enterprise and shop local, using billboards to advertise. Our road safety programme has been recognised locally and regionally and has won a national award from the Road Safety Authority, RSA. In 2014 farm safety became so topical that we felt we should go beyond road safety and include farm safety.

We looked at what we might do and realised that machinery was the big issue, so we organised to take some of our players over to a good facility, the Bantry Driving Academy, which has an off-road track purpose built for learner drivers. It is mostly for learning to drive cars, but we used it on that day with the help of farm relief services, who supplied us with a tutor to teach our people about tractor safety. We got some funding from our local FBD office and those involved had a very nice day out there. They learned about farm, tractor and machinery safety and we thought it was appropriate and worked very well. It is something we intend to do a lot more of. It touches on what has been talked about, especially by the three organisations that were here a few minutes ago.

I am disappointed that the image of living on a farm has become seriously tainted because of the discussion about farm safety over the last years. Now, it seems undesirable to rear children on a farm. We were brought up on small farms in west Cork and have reared families on farms. It was always a tradition that children would visit farms but that has become a bit of a no-no because parents are so conscious of the risks. A lot of what they hear now are adverse comments on the safety of farms. It has become a serious issue. We have some great memories of growing up when we were young on the farm. The few times every year or every second year when my siblings and I meet, we talk about the memories of growing up on a farm long ago. Are we going to deny the next generation or the generation after that the same enjoyment? We need to reverse the trend in farm accidents so that we do not deny them that.

With regard to what is to be done, some of the material in our submission is very simple but effective. These measures would work well and are not expensive. Money has been talked about and, from our own experience, low income on farms has contributed to farm accidents and deaths. We have no doubt about that. We tend to try and fix a lot of things, to be builders, engineers and welders - we try to be everything and maybe we do not master anything.

We have two words for solving this problem - awareness and education. They have both been mentioned already today. We would distinguish between the youth and the more seasoned farmers or the fellows who are farming now at whatever age. We need to start young because if we get the message to the schoolchildren and convince them, they will go home and convince their parents. We need to start the programme in primary school and to put a big emphasis on the programmes in transition year. Already there are safe driving programmes in schools and they should be expanded to safe driving in agri-business - tractor and machinery safety. There should be much more focused training programmes in the agricultural colleges as they are the people who will be farming in the future and will be rearing families on farms. The RSA has been mentioned here more than once, along with the campaign it ran to reduce road fatalities - my God, was it successful - and farm safety deserves exactly the same attention.

There are so many groups doing so many good things individually. Some we hear about and some we do not but they need to be co-ordinated.

We would have an issue with the HSA running this because we think there should be a dedicated farm safety group looking after it. We think it deserves that. It is a no-brainer because the RSA did a successful campaign. We have no doubt that some of the same images and television campaigns that the RSA used to reverse and lower the number of road deaths need to be used in this case as well. This is what needs to be done. I repeat that the GAA should be involved much more. For example, there are some high profile GAA players who would be good at spreading the message. Young people look up to them, as do adults and farmers. We need to use them more. We also need to use the ICA more because if a farmer was to listen to no one else I can guarantee he would listen to the wife, the partner or the girlfriend. If she says it, he might listen.

I am delighted to see the farming organisations are here. They need to work together and with all others as well. In our view it is a case of hitting the young people with stark messages and using the stick with them and in the case of the more seasoned farmers, use the carrot approach because they will not react to too much stick.

I thank the committee for having us. We wish the members well in their work. Farm safety is a big issue in rural Ireland. We ask the committee to report pretty quickly, using a language that we can understand and giving practical suggestions. I say this because farmers will react to practical suggestions. They are the leaders in practicality. If the committee gives us the leadership we will do the rest at no cost to the State whatsoever.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome Mr. Patrick Duffy who has travelled from the opposite direction, from Ballybay, County Monaghan. Patrick is 16 years old and he works regularly on his father's and uncle's farms. He has conducted research on farm safety for a school project that has designed a farm safety board game which he has sent to the committee and which will be circulated. I invite Patrick to make his submission to the committee. He is very welcome and it is good to see young people here because they are the future of farming. Patrick will be farming long after a lot of us are gone, politically and otherwise.

Mr. Patrick Duffy:

Is mór an onóir dom a bheith anseo inniu le bheith ag caint faoi sábháilteacht ar an bhfeirm. Gan dabht, is ábhar fiorthábhachtach é an t-ábhar seo agus tá áthas an domhain orm deis a fháil labhairt faoi. My name is Patrick Duffy and I am from County Monaghan. I am a member of the farming community. As the Chairman said, I work regularly on my own farm at home and on my uncle's farm down the road. I am currently a transition year student at Ballybay Community College in County Monaghan.

As a young person living in rural Ireland today I believe I have some knowledge and some experience of farm safety. Today I will talk about farm safety from a young person's perspective. Of the 30 people who died on Irish farms last year, five were children. Three of these children were under the age of seven. According to the HSA, 22 children died on Irish farms between 2005 and 2014. This is an extraordinarily high number for such a small and young age group.

In my view there is currently a lack of awareness among young people regarding farm safety. If we want to lower the number of deaths and accidents among young people, this attitude must change. The way forward to promote this awareness, as has been mentioned earlier, is through education both at home and at school.

In my submission I called for farm safety to be taught as a compulsory subject throughout primary school, from junior infants to sixth class. This education should be continued on to second level as part of the transition year programme.

As part of a school project two or three years ago I designed a farm safety board game which is aimed at primary school children to teach them the rights and wrongs, per se, of safety on the farm. It is a very simple game. If the dice rolls on a positive space, such as "farmer wearing a reflective jacket" or "farm safety signs in place", the player goes forward two or three spaces.

On the other hand, if I land in a negative space such as "children playing in a field with a bull" or near "an open slurry tank", I have to go back two or three spaces. The aim of the game is to highlight the dangers on farms in a fun and interactive way. Children often learn better this way than they do in reading information in a book. Not only will the game be a good tool in the classroom, if children bring it home to their families and play it with parents, grandparents and siblings, they will also be teaching these other family members about farm safety. This was a point made by one of the Senators. Believe it or not, sometimes it is the child who can teach the adult. I attended an IFA meeting in County Monaghan recently at which a farmer told me he how he had wanted to bring his son with him one day in his tractor. The child refused to go because he knew about the Health and Safety Authority's regulation banning children under the age of seven years from being in a tractor cab. This young boy had heard about the regulation on the news or heard other farmers talking about it. It was because he was informed and educated that he could, in turn, inform and educate his parent on an issue to do with farm safety. I see no reason this cannot happen and I am sure this will happen on a broader scale if there is more education on these matters in schools.

My board game is only one example of the many ways in which we can teach farm safety to young people. Another tool I wish to bring to the committee's attention is "Stay Safe on the Farm with Jessy", a joint publication by the HSA and Teagasc. It tells the story of a dog bringing her puppies around the farm on which they live, pointing to the various hazards and how to avoid accidents. It is from this book that I learned most of my knowledge of farm safety. When we were small my parents would sit us down as a family and read the book to us, emphasising the various dangers on our farm and other farms. Every farm family should have a copy of this book and ensure it is read to their small children.

There is a lack of awareness among young people involved in farming regarding farm safety. The way to increase the level of awareness is through more education at home and in school, at both primary and secondary level. There must be greater co-operation between young people and their parents on this issue. If that is done, we will see a decrease in the number of on-farm fatalities and accidents involving young people.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Mr. Duffy was the seventh person to make a presentation to the committee but the first to finish right on time. He must have a stop watch.

Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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I compliment Mr. Connie O'Driscoll of Mizen Rovers GAA Club and Mr. Patrick Duffy on their presentations. Until Mr. O'Driscoll spoke we had not heard as much about Goleen since P. J. Sheehan was a Member of the other House. However, we never forget about it. It is highly appropriate that a small club which represents an organisation that has roots in the rural community and is present in every parish in the country should be to the forefront in promoting farm safety. Mizen Rovers has taken a novel approach in using prominent GAA players to raise awareness of the issues involved. It is a worthy initiative which should be taken up by the Health and Safety Authority and everybody involved in the promotion of farm safety. I compliment Mizen Rovers GAA Club on its proposals and care for players. I have noted the details included in its submission of its driving academy and so on. It is clearly a very progressive club.

Mr. Duffy's board game is a novel idea. He stressed what most farming organisations have already stressed, namely, that education is the key to farm safety. He was able to quote from the HSE-Teagasc booklet, where he got most of his information from and where he was taught farm safety, and this shows the importance of leaflets in education, especially that of young people.

A number of people have spoken about transition year and primary schools and I agree that if we inform people at a young age about farm safety that is how we will win because, mar a deireann an seanfhocal, "Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí." That is what we should be doing as regards farm safety.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell was listening very intently and taking copious notes so I am sure she has very good questions.

Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent)
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I do not so much have questions. I want to say to Mr. Duffy, "You are the business". He is everything the organisation could wish for, namely, an articulate young person talking about farm safety. I am sure the mantle will fall to him some day. This is exactly what the Seanad Public Consultation Committee is about; it is about bringing in new life, new thought and new ideas and marrying them with what is already there as we move forward. I compliment Mr. Duffy and Mr. O'Driscoll for the great way they discussed the whole area and for the way they brought it to life. They have created new ways to educate young people and I agree with them that unless things start in primary school they will not be relevant to people in their 20s. Not everybody has the privilege to grow up with a lot of very good mentors around them.

I congratulate Mr. Duffy. I should not say he has a future career in politics because it might not be what he wants as politics can close down a lot of creativity. I also congratulate Mizen Rovers for all they have done and for the way they have looked at the trajectory of the GAA going forward in the context of the development of farm safety. I have the privilege with RTE of spending a lot of time on farms around the country and it never ceases to amaze me how, in an instant and in any season, something can happen involving machinery when we are not paying full attention.

I thank the witnesses again. They were most informative.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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They are very welcome to go down to Goleen, Mizen or Barley Cove.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I agree with the articulate way Senator O'Donnell described the witnesses' contributions. When we as a committee advertised for submissions we hoped we would get interesting ones and not just from professionals in the State agencies. We hoped for submissions from other people which would give us inspiration and belief that there are ideas and people who can make a difference. Mr. Duffy's board game is inspirational and if he is demonstrating these skills at transition year level the world is his oyster in terms of what he can achieve in his professional career when he develops it.

I have seen people submit ideas to "Dragons' Den" that have more of a social dimension than a money-making dimension and the dragons have offered finance for the person to achieve his or her objective. I suggest Mr. Duffy would do a lot worse than going before the next "Dragons' Den" series to help put this board game in every school and public library in the country. I am sure representatives of the HSE are in the Visitors Gallery. They act as the dragons on this occasion by providing the funding.

It probably would not cost a great deal to provide that type of support but it could achieve a lot in a subtle and inoffensive way. Mr. Eddie Downey spoke earlier about advocating for farmers rather than penalising them. Mr. Duffy's invention is worth pursuing as a means of getting the message across in a helpful way. His board game is only at its inception and can really be driven forward.

The GAA is not an organisation but a movement which is represented in every parish in the country. My wife is the secretary of our local club and I will be advising her that it should do something similar to what is being done at Mizen Rovers. She might not like me telling her what to do, but this is a great initiative and the GAA has a critical role to play on this issue. It should begin by hiring a full-time farm safety officer at headquarters. It already has equality officers and integration officers, who play a very important role. I have worked with the integration officer at Croke Park and have attended meetings there. One often sees at matches a message displayed on the big screen about the importance of treating everybody with respect. The GAA has made great strides in breaking down barriers to participation by the new Irish and members of minority communities. If it were prepared to put a few quid into this by hiring a full-time farm safety officer, what Mizen Rovers has achieved could be replicated in every club in the country. Such an initiative would ultimately save lives.

Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Mr. O'Driscoll and Mr. Duffy for their excellent presentations. Senator O'Donnell summed it up when she said Mr. Duffy is the business. Many of us seasoned politicians would have great difficulty giving as balanced and well delivered a presentation as he gave us today. He should be very proud of himself. Has Mr. Duffy taken any action in the direction of Senator Conway's suggestion that he look into producing his board game as a commercial venture? Has he spoken, for example, to any of the organisations in County Monaghan or at national level about it? Mr. Duffy has the gift of delivering a message. Has he considered going out to the wider community in Monaghan or even venturing as far as his neighbouring counties of Cavan and Louth to give his presentation to secondary schools initially and then perhaps to primary schools? I am sure many educational institutions would be very willing to sponsor him to do so. It certainly is something worth pursuing. I urge him to keep up the excellent work he is doing. He is a credit to his family, his school in Ballybay and his county.

Will Mr. O'Driscoll indicate what sparked the initiative at Mizen Rovers to establish a road safety programme, a health and welfare committee and a jobs and enterprise committee? Most GAA clubs have a health and welfare committee but I doubt if many also have a road safety programme or a jobs and enterprise committee. It is a very welcome initiative by Mr. O'Driscoll's club. Is he aware of the same thing being done anywhere else in the country among the GAA community? Has Mizen Rovers considered putting down a motion for the next congress calling on the GAA to employ a farm safety officer at national level, with a view to working down towards local communities?

As Senator Conway said, the GAA is a movement represented in every parish in the Thirty-two Counties of this country. Farm safety is an issue for the Thirty-two Counties of this country, not just the Twenty-six Counties of the Irish Republic. I thank the delegates again for their presentation and for coming all the way from west Cork to make a presentation to members and the Chairman, Senator O'Donovan.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I ask contributors to be brief in their questions and answers. If there are comments in favour of what has been said, they should be taken on board as positive. A number of questions have been asked, including by the Leader of the Seanad, Senator Maurice Cummins, and Senators O'Donnell and Conway. I will allow the delegates answer the questions asked to them and we will then move on because Senator O'Brien has indicated she has a question or two. I invite Mr. Duffy to speak first. Youth is honourable this time.

Mr. Patrick Duffy:

Let me answer Senator Wilson's question. I hope to produce my game and make it available to families and schools. If I do not, it will go to waste. An idea I have is to go to agricultural shows around County Monaghan and, as suggested, Virginia in Cavan, to make the board games available there.

With regard to the community, I have visited my old primary school in Ballybay, Scoil Éanna. I played the board game there with students from sixth and third classes. They had fun, which is good, and more important, they learned something. I asked them a couple of questions afterwards on farm safety and 71% got all the answers right or had one question wrong. I was very happy with those results. I would like to make the product available to more schools, both primary and secondary, because this is where most value can be gleaned from it. I will definitely be considering this in the future.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Mr. Connie O'Driscoll has some questions to answer.

Mr. Connie O'Driscoll:

I wish to respond to Senator Wilson. I will leave the question on the GAA congress to my colleague, Mr. Tim Sheehan.

I mentioned where the idea came from earlier. We need all our players. We have a saying that might sound crude to some. We always say that jerseys should be on young players' backs on the field and definitely not on coffins. I know that is crude and hurtful to people who have suffered but it is a reality. Much of the time, jerseys are where they should not be because of road accidents. That brought it home to us. Two lads from our club were lucky to escape a pretty serious road accident. It came home to us that there were other factors to be considered. We certainly need the youth to play games but we should have an input into other areas of their lives. Often, young players would start training with us in February and March and play games throughout the summer, shedding blood, sweat and tears. They would disappear in September and would not be seen again until March. We believed we needed to have more input into their lives. We believed the GAA club was the ideal organisation through which to deal with some of the problems they experience. That is where the idea came from. We broadened the initiative from one focusing on road safety to one including health and well-being, in addition to the jobs and enterprise element, which was a really serious issue in 2010 and still is. If the parents are not working in an area, there will not be kids to play the games.

I will leave the question on congress to Mr. Sheehan.

Mr. Tim Sheehan:

The GAA congress is a means of the club going forward into the county. We have not thought about the Senator's idea, to be honest. He is the first person that has triggered it. It appears to be an option to be considered. To get it beyond Frank, it might be difficult. It is probably worth a shot, however. It sounds like a good idea.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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By "Frank", does Mr. Tim Sheehan mean Mr. Frank Murphy of the Cork GAA county board?

Mr. Tim Sheehan:

Yes.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Mary Ann O'Brien wished to ask a question, and I will also have a question to conclude this tranche.

Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent)
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Yes, I will be very brief. I wish to say how much I enjoyed Mr. Connie O'Driscoll's and Mr. Patrick Duffy's presentation. I wish I had been Mr. Duffy's student at school because I would probably have ended up as an A student. Play makes a subject come alive and he brought it alive today. It engages the right and left sides of the brain. Albert Einstein described play as the greatest form of research and the easiest way for people to learn.

Our Leader, Senator Maurice Cummins, comes from Waterford where Hasbro, the board game company, is based. We have to help the witness go national with that board game. It is a gift for the young and is the easiest way to bring the whole subject alive for them. Well done to Patrick. He is an inspiration. I do not know if he will ever make a politician because he is an entrepreneur first. He will be in business before long.

Mr. Patrick Duffy:

Thank you.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I think he would be lost in politics.

Mr. Patrick Duffy:

I must thank my teachers in Ballybay who have given me a lot of encouragement, particularly Ms Noone and Ms Harvey who helped me find printers. We are still looking.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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You will find them. We have a saying down our way: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I wish to wrap up this tranche now. I am encouraged by Mr. Patrick Duffy's presentation. If farming attitudes are to change, young people like him are the ideal role models. We are here to listen but if he and his peers at that age can reflect positive thinking on farm safety, the next generation will have a lot less to fear than we had.

I am also encouraged by Mr. Connie O'Driscoll and Mr. Tim Sheehan, my friends from close to home, and the way in which they have an integrated approach to their community. Apart from farm safety, they also touched on the mental health of their players, which is hugely important. Have they ever considered creating a model farm, if possible, in order that people could visit and see how to do things?

More than many other clubs, Mizen Rovers suffers from emigration. It is 80 miles from Cork city, so emigration is an ongoing problem. I was also encouraged by the fact that the members took it upon themselves to visit the centre near Bantry where that woman began training farmers. One can learn to drive tractors there and it is one of the first such places in Ireland. It is encouraging that a community as remote as theirs is represented here today to make a presentation to this committee. Theirs is a really rural community, so I acknowledge the fact that they have come here to comment on farm safety.

I will let Mr. O'Driscoll or Mr. Sheehan have the last word. In the final minute or two they can wrap up on what I and Senator Mary Ann O'Brien have said.

Mr. Connie O'Driscoll:

I thank the Chairman and Senator Mary Ann O'Brien. This arose out of a necessity for education and awareness of farm safety. We have a small base of players, so every player is vital to us. We need to protect them in every possible way. We are a long way from anywhere so journeys do not frighten us. We may have to make a round trip of 80 miles to play a game. That would frighten most guys, but it does not frighten us. It is like going on holidays when we go to play an away game.

We are lucky to have the centre in Bantry that is close to us. We can access it, as it is only 15 miles away. It is handy to have that unique facility both for car and tractor driving. All these things are important.

As we said earlier, a co-ordinated approach is very important in dealing with the problem. I hope the committee will suggest a mirror organisation like the Road Safety Authority to deal with the farm safety problem. It is vital. I do not want to be too critical of the HSA but it is seen to deal more with construction. I accept it has a farming section but what is needed are people who understand farming to deal with this issue. There needs to be a big input from the farming organisations. We would call for more of a carrot than a stick approach when it comes to established farmers. They need encouragement but they are willing to change which they have proved many times over the years. I am sure they will not be found wanting on this matter.

On the point of change in the GAA and getting it to broaden its remit, we would find that difficult. Organisations tend to deal with their core business and stick to it. It is difficult at times to get them to think outside the box. We will not stop nagging them, however, and encouraging them to change. I believe it will happen and the GAA will have a significant role in promoting farm safety. I like the idea of it appointing an officer in this regard. I know Colm O’Reagan based in Croke Park whose remit could be broadened to concentrate on this.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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What breed is the black bull Mr. Patrick Duffy has on his board? Is it a Kerry bull?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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He could be any kind of a bull.

Mr. Tim Sheehan:

Listening to the presentation one would think we are focused on safety with machinery but there is another side to this. Earlier the ICSA referred to farm stock, an issue which needs to be addressed. A mothering cow is far more dangerous than any bull I have ever seen. Cattle are not being handled as much or as often as before, even on dairy farms, and are proving to be very dangerous, especially with young kids and elderly people. This issue needs to be taken on board as well but I am not so sure how to come around to it. It is mostly through awareness and being careful. As Senator Marie-Louise O’Donnell said, an accident can happen in a split second, so awareness is important.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the committee, I thank the delegations for their enlightening submissions. All their points will be taken on board and will be included when Senator Martin Conway, the rapporteur, will do our final report. It is hoped we will be able to invite the delegations to its launch in May.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The committee will now hear presentations from a number of contributors with their roots in rural and farming communities and families. Embrace FARM, or farming accidents - remembered and missed, was founded in 2014 by Mr. Brian Rohan whose father, Liam, died as a result of an accident on his farm in County Laois in 2012. The organisation was established to provide bereavement support to widows and family members of farmers who died at work. Embrace FARM sent the committee links to videos which it has produced and they stand as eloquent testimony to the lives of those who have died in farm accidents. They remind us of the real people behind the statistics and of the families and friends who are coping with the loss. Embrace FARM is represented today by Mr. Brian Rohan and Mr. Peter Gohery, who are both directors of the organisation.

We also have representatives from Irish Rural Link, which was formed in 1991 as a national network of organisations and individuals campaigning for sustainable rural development in Ireland and Europe.

The organisation has undertaken a number of farm safety initiatives and has identified three key areas for priority action. Irish Rural Link is represented by Mr. Séamus Boland and Mr. Vincent Nally. Councillor John Dolan represents the Athlone electoral area on Westmeath County Council, and in his submission to the committee he has put forward a number of practical proposals to improve and promote farm safety. The witnesses are all very welcome.

Before we begin, I remind witnesses that their position before the committee is that of a witness. Witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the evidence they give to the committee. However, if they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and they continue to so do, they will thereafter be entitled only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

All of the submissions made will form part of our report. I invite the Embrace FARM representatives to address the committee. We will then move on to the other groups in this tranche, followed by questions and answers.

Mr. Brian Rohan:

I am accompanied by Mr. Peter Gohery, a survivor of a serious accident on a farm, in which he unfortunately lost a leg. He will deal with any queries on surviving a farm accident. My wife Norma and I founded Embrace FARM last year following the death of my father Liam as result of an accident on our family farm in County Laois in 2012.

Embrace FARM was established to hold a remembrance service for all those lost on the farms of Ireland. The first national remembrance service was held in Abbeyleix, County Laois, in June last year in honour of all those people who had been killed or seriously injured in farm accidents. The service was led by Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops and was attended by more than 600 people, including the Taoiseach's aide-de-camp, Commandant Kieran Carey, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and the heads of numerous farming organisations and companies, including our provincial ambassadors for Embrace FARM - Mr. John Hayes, who represents Munster, Mr. Adrian Flavin from Connacht, Mr. Rory Best from Ulster, and Mr. Sean O'Brien from Leinster - and the former GAA president, Mr. Nicky Brennan.

As families made contact to ask that their loved ones' names be remembered at the service, many relayed quite harrowing stories of the practical fallout of farm fatalities, which, of course, added to the awful emotional toll. The practical toll included financial and legal issues, particularly for widows. Not only do they have to take over the farm, but their hardship is compounded by their bank accounts' being frozen and the fact that they cannot provide an income for their families or pay bills on the farm, no matter how well the business is operating. In some cases, widows are completely new to the business of farming and have no knowledge of what to do on the farm or how to deal with the reams of paperwork.

Following a meeting with the Minister last September in which we outlined the difficulties that can arise when the main farmer dies suddenly, whether as a result of a farm accident or otherwise, we requested a liaison officer within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to assist families in dealing with the paperwork, on issues as simple as when to fill out forms and how to complete them. The Minister, to his absolute credit, granted the request within two days. I must also commend him on the safety grant for farmers. We also requested a safe play area for children, which is needed on some, but not all, farms.

We have held a number of bereavement support counselling sessions with farm families affected by fatal accidents. The sessions have proved enormously beneficial and helpful to attendees, to the extent that there are now requests from across the country to roll out similar sessions, something that Embrace FARM is seeking to develop, including counselling and support for survivors of serious accidents. Financing these is our current obstacle.

As we already mentioned, we have come across many hardship cases. We know of one young widow with children who cannot access the farm business bank account and, therefore, is left struggling to provide for her children, not to mention trying to run the family farm business, pay for feed and fertiliser and buy cattle. In another situation, a woman has had to hire two solicitors, one to represent herself and another to represent her young children. She now has to take legal action against her children's estate in order to provide for her children, as she was not married to the father. We are also aware of a situation in which a bank is trying to take the family home of a widow in lieu of debts owed but the widow does not have the means to appoint a solicitor to act on her behalf as the farm's bank account has been shut down. This type of impasse must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

In the case of a family farm with heavy borrowings and no will or life cover in place, it compounds an already unbearable situation for a woman who has lost her husband, the father of her children and her family's breadwinner.

Based on the demand for supports, we have moved to put the organisation on a more professional and formal footing. We have set up a board of ten directors for Embrace FARM. We are in the process of registering as a charity. Our mission is to become a support network for those affected by fatal and non-fatal farm accidents. Our key objectives are to establish regional support networks for families, including bereavement groups, and to highlight to farming organisations and Government and State bodies that a lack of services is available to the farming community after accidents take place. As an organisation, we want to emphasise that some changes are necessary, not least within the banking sector, to enable the family to access the farm bank account following the death of the account holder, simply in order that the business can continue to operate, a wage can be paid to a farm worker or manager to keep the business running and provision can be made for the widow and children. We also suggest that when a bank gives a farmer a mortgage, life cover must kick in on day one with no opt-out facility. We believe there is a need to compel farmers to make a will. Perhaps this could be linked to farm insurance or EU payments. Perhaps it would not be possible to obtain farm insurance in the absence of a will.

Senators may be aware of our farm safety awareness campaign, What's Left Behind, which we launched last year and details of which have been circulated to the committee. This campaign was initiated in response to the dramatic rise in the number of farm fatalities, which had increased by 87% since 2013. The campaign, which involved the production and circulation to the media of a series of videos featuring family members who had lost loved ones through farm fatalities, has received huge national and local media coverage. One particular video has received more than 250,000 views. It is hoped that the campaign will shed light on the growing dangers on our farms - last year was the worst year for farm fatalities for more than 20 years - and encourage greater farm safety practices.

The Embrace FARM campaign would not have been possible without the support of the ABP Food Group, which funded it in its entirety without any request for mention. I record our gratitude for the support of this group. I also thank the families of the bereaved for their incredible generosity in allowing their harrowing stories to be told, simply in order that others might not have to face the same dreadful ordeal. We believed that this foray into farm safety awareness was essential. While our focus will remain on providing supports to the bereaved, we are asking the Government to fund a national farm safety advertisement campaign on television and radio, much like the successful campaign undertaken some years ago by the Road Safety Authority that led to a reduction in the number of road deaths. We are also asking the Government to consider rolling out a schools programme to educate the farmers of tomorrow about farm safety.

I would like to conclude by extending to all the Senators and farming representatives who are in attendance an open invitation to attend this year's Embrace FARM remembrance service, which will be held in Abbeyleix, County Laois, on 28 June 2015. If they attend, they will be able to see for themselves the devastation that is left behind following a death or serious injury on a farm in Ireland. I thank the committee for inviting me to address today's hearing. We would welcome any questions Senators might have.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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We will move on to Mr. Seamus Boland and Mr. Vincent Nally of Irish Rural Link.

Mr. Seamus Boland:

Irish Rural Link, which has been going since 1991, represents a range of community groups throughout the country and its theme is sustainable rural communities. My colleague, Mr. Vincent Nally, will speak in a moment about a pilot programme that is organised by Irish Rural Link and funded and supported by the Health and Safety Authority. The aim of the programme, which is entitled "farmers inspiring farmers", is to facilitate farmers in mentoring other farmers and to move the focus away from inspectors, directives and legalities in order that ordinary farmers can learn the on-farm skills and forms of knowledge that make their farms safer. Farmers are by their nature very busy. They may not have the yard in perfect order. It is not a demonstration plate. Farmers can relate to other farmers who understand what it is to have a yard which may be dangerous. I ask my colleague, Mr. Vincent Nally, to speak further about the pilot programme.

Mr. Vincent Nally:

I will explain a little bit about the mentor programme. Irish Rural Link was asked to be represented on the farm safety partnership. For my sins, I was chosen. Initially, I did not realise the importance and weight that sat on my shoulders. Even though I was farming myself, I did not realise what was happening on farms.

Irish Rural Link examined what input we could make and developed what was probably the first ever bottom-up approach to farm safety, one which triggered farmers to become involved and part of the process. We decided to recruit a number of farmers for a programme by trying to give them something. We delivered a train the trainer course with a farm focus. The course is capacity building and aimed at giving farmers the skills they need to communicate the message. It has been very successful in terms of outcomes and achievements. We ended up with 13 active inventors on the ground, all of whom were ordinary farmers who would speak to fellow farmers. They have delivered big in terms of outcomes. The programme was delivered in four midland counties, which together are considered a blackspot. While the use of statistics can be difficult, it should be noted that only one of the 29 deaths last year was recorded in the mentor programme area.

The focus of the programme was to train farmers to target fellow farmers. They utilised media such as discussion groups, marts, agricultural shows and other large shows in the catchment area and used different ideas to target farmers. One particular initiative, which was widely discussed, was generated from an idea from farmers themselves. It involved securing a discounted offer from a local provider of dry shaft covers. The importer and local distributor offered a purchasing group of 100 farmers a dry shaft cover for €5 in return for promotion among at least four friends and neighbours. When the importer called me to say he had a problem with the programme, I thought I was in trouble. The problem, however, was that his stores were empty of covers because the initiative had been a sell-out success.

The process produced a number of worthwhile ideas from farmers. We were capitalising on the peer-to-peer approach. There is great empathy among farmers who share many of their ideas and we capitalised on this in the programme. Among the ideas that emerged were an improved calving gate design and the use of retractable spikes for loaders. The most worthwhile idea, about which the committee will hear more in future, is an invention that removes the dangerous gas, hydrogen sulfide, from slurry. It involves using a retrofit slat that has been worked on with an engineering company. This invention has the potential to make slurry gas safe and provide an energy source for farmers. It could have significant environment benefits in terms of treating slurry in a low temperature unit. We are working on this device as we speak and have taken out a patent on it. We hope to develop the idea with funders in the next few weeks.

It was unbelievable what emerged when farmers came together and engaged on the topic of safety. Farmers share many ideas on grass management and breed improvement. They need to include safety in their vocabulary and day-to-day communications with each other. Irish Rural Link is pleased to have an opportunity to address the committee on this issue. I emphasise the need for better supports and a bottom-up approach, which has never been tried before. We heard today about a carrot-and-stick approach. Surely farmers should be supported on an issue such as this. We had efforts to save bats, birds and bees with GLAS and the rural environment protection and agri-environment options schemes, yet support has never been provided for a farm safety initiative. Farmers must be involved in the process and better supports must be provided for bottom-up initiatives that trigger attitudinal and behavioural change. This is the common denominator that is not being triggered.

We hope the pilot could be looked at as a model that should be mainstreamed and supported. The farmers who got involved in this did so gratis. I see the network that has evolved from the process and I feel it has significant potential to be mainstreamed. Hopefully, this message is communicated here today.

Mr. John Dolan:

I thank the committee for the invitation to present my recommendations to it. In particular, I thank Senator Conway for making me aware of this process in the first place. I am a dairy farmer from outside Athlone in County Westmeath. I am married with three children, one of whom is in agricultural college and will farm with me. I worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a quality assurance inspector before becoming a full-time farmer. I know of five people who have lost their lives through farm accidents and this has given me an interest in trying to change the serious death rate in Irish agriculture. As we know, 30 people were killed in agriculture last year. This must change.

As I mentioned previously, I have worked outside agriculture, which many of my farming colleagues have not done. The attitude to work safety in other industries is totally different and safety is accepted as part of normal work practice. I worked in Elan Pharmaceutical Technologies outside Athlone. I would never have been allowed to bring my children into work with me for obvious reasons as it would have been too dangerous, yet I never gave a thought to bringing them on the farm. I am not advocating preventing children from being out on the farm but I am just pointing out the difference in attitudes between industry and agriculture. Attitude is the most important word that will be used here today and it is key to improving the situation. Nobody sets out to kill or injure or to be killed or injured on their farm. A farm is a unique workplace as it is usually located beside the family home and involves help from family labour both young and old. A vast and unique set of skills is also required to run this farm as well. A farmer must be a vet, a mechanic, a labourer, an accountant, a negotiator, a personnel manager and a businessman or businesswoman. In most cases, the farm is run by one person who, at various times of the year, is working very long hours. This is the person who must also be a safety officer now. Unfortunately, many farms are not very profitable so the amount of income and cash available to invest in different measures may not be great. This is no excuse for having a dangerous farm, but it is definitely a factor in some of the dangers around the farms in Ireland.

How do we improve farm safety? We can use a stick approach or a carrot approach. I believe in the carrot more than the stick. Attitudes need to change and this can only happen through education and awareness of the dangers in farming today. I recently ran an information night in Moate which was attended by almost 60 people, many of whom were young people, so there is an interest in farm safety and I think that most of us recognise that the industry has to change. My first recommendation is that every farmer should complete the half-day safety course provided by Teagasc. I believe the cost is €25. This should be voluntary at first but if things do not improve, it should be made compulsory and be part of our code of good farming practice. I think someone said earlier today that nobody would be allowed on a building site without a basic safety course and the same should be true of farming. Regional on-farm safety open days, similar to the normal demonstrations of good management at the various open days I have attended, should be held to show what the practical issues are on farm. Discussion groups were mentioned. I am a member of a discussion group and I think they are the ideal medium for getting the message out there. Discussion groups meetings should be targeted to give live demonstrations on how to repair faulty covers and make farms safer. They should probably be included in one or two meetings per year. We meet every month. That would be the regular meeting of discussion groups.

To incentivise the improvements required we need to extend the successful farm safety scheme. We also need to expand the range of options to include equipment now available, for example a slurry gas detector which one wears on one's belt. It is not included in the present scheme but it is a relatively cheap item at a cost of few hundred euro. It should be included in the next scheme to incentivise it . The person agitating the slurry wears it on his or her belt and it emits an alarm when gas is detected. People cannot detect the gas as it does not smell.

A scrappage scheme was mentioned and I would definitely support this. It should be considered for tractors and dangerous machinery. PTO shafts were mentioned earlier, and it was suggested it would be good to have a switch at the back of the tractor to turn off the PTO shaft. If part of one's clothing is caught in a PTO shaft travelling at 540 revolutions a minute it will be dragged in at 2.4 meters a second, which does not give one much time to reach for a switch to turn it off.

Young tractor drivers should be made display an "L" plate and complete a Teagasc farm safety course before they are given a licence at the age of 16. Often these young drivers, who have little experience of driving, work very long hours with silage outfits, perhaps travelling on a tractor with 10 tonnes to 12 tonnes of grass on a trailer behind it. At least a very basic safety course would make them aware of the dangers associated with the machinery they are driving.

Unfortunately none of us have all of the answers, and no matter how careful we are accidents will happen, but we must try to minimise the dangers with sensible and rational solutions to help people educate themselves, upgrade their farms and save lives.

Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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I compliment Embrace FARM, Irish Rural Link and Councillor John Dolan for their presentations. I compliment Embrace FARM for its counselling and support for bereaved families. Would Mr. Peter Gohery like to discuss his farm accident and let us know what happened? It is entirely up to himself. Irish Rural Link and Councillor Dolan mentioned discussion groups and farmers meeting farmers. This is the key. The message must come from the bottom up as has been mentioned. The carrot and stick approach has also been mentioned. Much of the regulation we have is necessary but according to the vast majority of the submissions, encouragement and education are key, particularly educating young people. It is good that similar proposals are being made. The scrappage scheme was mentioned by a number of speakers and must be considered. This will form part of our report and recommendations.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I compliment Embrace FARM, Irish Rural Link and Councillor John Dolan. As Senator Cummins stated, a number of issues have been raised several times, particularly the dangers of PTOs on the back of tractors and a scrappage scheme. As Senator Cummins stated, please God they will be in our recommendations. The event to be held in Abbeyleix on 28 June will be important. The proposal with regard to slurry gas is excellent and would make it safe. The fact it has a beneficial side effect which can be put to good use for the farmer is excellent, and is something else we will examine and, please God, advance further. As Councillor John Dolan stated, it is all down to good farming practice.

As has been stated, if a successful farm safety scheme does not come about with a carrot, the use of the stick must be imposed down the line. The issue is too serious now. Best practice can be evident in industry but farms are industries in their own way, so best practice must apply there as well.

I compliment the witnesses as their submissions have been excellent and very worthwhile. Hopefully we will be able to further advance those ideas through our rapporteur.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I offer my sympathies to Mr. Gohery on his bereavement. At least something good is coming out of it because of what he is doing and the work in which he has engaged. The proposal to have this public consultation came after I heard a Clare FM interview with Mr. Eugene Hogan, who lost his brother in a farming accident in Offaly. The following week I proposed a public consultation on farm safety. I am thankful the House agreed to it and we are here today.

Embrace FARM is doing great work, as we saw with the appearances on the "The Late Late Show". I have been on that programme so I know the impact it has. In an indirect way, the publicity will save lives because it is raising awareness. Irish Rural Link has always done great work and it is no surprise to me that it has embraced this as a very important rural issue. We had people from the GAA before us earlier and they also have a critical role to play. I hope that as a result of today's work, we might see a national movement within the GAA. I proposed to the delegation that it would go back to the organisation and seek a full-time farm safety officer to be based in Croke Park. That, in itself, would drive other clubs to engage in safety awareness days.

Mr. Dolan's testimonial today has been very powerful as he has had experience on both sides. He has run a farm and worked in industry, so he knows the different practices. Sometimes, farmers who do not work outside the farm and have been full-time farmers would not necessarily see the difference between the farm and industry. We will take Mr. Dolan's suggestions on board and I thank him for the submission and his testimony. When we draft the report, we will draw a distinction between industry and farming. It is important for all of us to remember there are 245,000 people engaged in farming on either a full-time or part-time basis. Equally, there are 400,000 people living on farms in the country. I thank the witnesses, as the engagement has been very worthwhile.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I join in the words of congratulations to our speakers and there is a great breadth of expertise. The work of Embrace FARM is very inspiring and I look forward to hearing what Mr. Gohery has to say because I have had the pleasure of meeting him and learning from him. He has particular issues to raise and to teach arising from his own experience. Irish Rural Link has done Trojan work, and I welcome the public representative who is combining his knowledge as a public representative with his farming background.

I have a couple of questions. It strikes me that the mentoring programme from farmer to farmer is brilliant and survivors of farm accidents can make really great teachers. There is nothing as powerful as personal testimony. I am conscious of the fact that we have different constituencies, as well as people who suffered bereavement. I have a friend in Roscommon whose brother was killed in a tragic farm accident; he was a very skilful farmer who knew the business inside out. He was a highly regarded farmer but was attacked by a newly calved heifer. The work is so unpredictable and, as has been mentioned, tragedies can happen very quickly. There is the work that must be done for those who have been bereaved and we must also consider what can assist people who have survived farm accidents.

We are very familiar with the way people can get their cars adapted when they have a disability. Is there a need for resources or potential for grant aid, for example, to enable farmers to get back behind the wheel of the tractor or whatever machinery is involved? We have heard in this session about the tremendous financial burden on people and uncertainty about banks, insurance and wills, etc. For those who survive farm accidents, is there a financial burden and what can be done to ameliorate it?

Are resources needed for the work in educating people and enabling people like the excellent young man who we heard from earlier and who has developed a board game? Is there a way for farm accident survivors to share their expertise and knowledge or tell their stories in schools, which would be important? Starting early with young people to inculcate habits of safety is important. It is like learning to wash one's hands when leaving the bathroom. It must get to the point where it is second nature, as farm accidents happen so quickly. How can we inculcate habits of safety in young people? It takes culture a long time to change. I am sure the witnesses are familiar with the Saw Doctors and a famous song called "Hay Wrap". That involves a child asking his father if he can go on top of the trailer. In recent years, Mr. Leo Moran of the Saw Doctors became so conscious of farm safety that he added a new line about not going on the trailer when bringing home the hay and that a farm is not the place to play, etc. As the witness acknowledged, it takes time for that message to get through. In developing habits of safety among young people, it is surely important to get often to the schools, and particularly rural schools. I would love to hear what the witnesses think would be needed to enable people in such work.

There is the issue of dealing with poisonous gases in slurry, and there have been positive comments in this regard. Only yesterday I spent two or three hours speaking with a friend who is involved with a local group water scheme. I met a businessman from Kerry who was talking about something similar and working on the aeration of slurry instead of having a hard crust that needs to be agitated and produces poisonous gases. I would be interested to know a little more about that project. It struck me as well that apart from the issue of farm safety, there would also be a potential reduction in nitrates, which would also be of interest to farmers. There may be a "win-win" scenario in this case. Resources are at the heart of my questions. What can be done to assist both the education process and those who have survived farm accidents?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Sometimes I can get confused, even as Leas-Chathaoirleach of the Seanad. We have just had questions and comments from Senator Rónán Mullen and now I am calling on Senator Michael Mullins. They might be related.

Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)
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As others have done, I extend a welcome to the representatives from Embrace FARM and Irish Rural Link, as well as Mr. Dolan. This has awakened in all of us the need for everybody, particularly farmers but also the general public, to be aware of the dangers on the family farm. We acknowledge that Senator Conway, as a result of the interview he heard on Clare FM, raised this issue in Seanad Éireann one morning. That has made everybody sit up and think, and today's process is a very productive follow-on from the intervention made by the Senator that morning.

Mr. Rohan's statement brought home the terrible difficulties that a survivor of a tragic farm accident can have. There are legal and financial difficulties, for example, and there is a need for the State or organisation to provide support for people who find themselves in such a difficult position. Irish Rural Link is involved with everything that is significant in rural Ireland and it has put forward some very interesting suggestions. Councillor John Dolan has, like me, worked in industry. I spent many years as secretary of a safety committee in a multinational company in which I worked.

That committee met every two months and looked at various problems throughout the organisation. It put deadlines and targets in place for supervisors and managers who would have to account for themselves at the following meeting. A huge amount of time and effort is put into safety in multinational companies which contrasts sharply with how little time and resources are available to address the issue of safety on family farms. Some very significant and interesting suggestions have come forward from the contributions we have heard in the last half an hour. The whole area of education is important. Young learner drivers must display L plates and young farmers taking part in Teagasc farm safety courses should be mandatory in this day and age. The machinery that young farmers are handling now is so different to the machinery on farms in the past. The power of the equipment is so much greater now. If Teagasc can lay on a farm safety course over a half day for every farmer for €25, then it is a no-brainer that every farmer should be encouraged to take part. It is all about education and heightening awareness through advertising on radio, television and through local and social media.

I ask the witnesses to comment on how we can start engineering some of the problems out of the farm. The detection of gases, for example, is one area but there are probably business opportunities for people who are close to farms and who see the potential problems which could be engineered off the farms. I am referring in particular to equipment, power take-offs and so forth. The witnesses have made us all sit up and think with their contributions. Unfortunately, all of us here know people who have either been very seriously injured or who have lost their lives through farm accidents. It is incumbent on all of us as public representatives to heighten awareness and continue to work with the various representative organisations to keep spreading the word about the need to be much more careful and safety conscious on farms.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The purpose of Senators being here today is to ask questions of our visitors, not to make prolonged statements. We are nine minutes into this segment and four questions have been asked. We will go straight to the answers now because ---

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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Can I just clarify something I said earlier? I mixed Brian Rohan and Peter Gohery up in my comments and I just ---

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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That is understandable but the witnesses know to whom you were referring. We will now move on to getting answers to the questions that were asked and move away from the glorious commentaries, saying that the witnesses are great people and so forth because I said all that at the start. I would be interested, if possible, to hear a brief account from Peter of how his accident occurred.

Mr. Peter Gohery:

I am delighted to be here today to tell my story. Six years ago I never thought I would make it to this place or even to Dublin. I was very involved in construction, worked at home on the farm and would have known a lot about safety. Yet, when I went home in the evening, everything went out the window. Farm safety was just forgotten about. I never thought it could happen to me but when I had people working for me, I made sure that every safety mechanism was in place for them. Six years ago it was a lovely, fine day and we were probably under pressure to get work done. At around 6 p.m. on that Saturday evening I let my guard down and stood too close to a power shaft that was unguarded, a piece of loose clothing got caught and I lost my leg. I very nearly lost the second leg too and it took months to recover.

At that time, when I went to hospital there were very few people to talk to and that is why I got involved with Embrace FARM. At the time, the organisation seemed to me to be all about those who had gone and there was nothing about the survivor but when I talked to Brian and Norma Rohan, I realised that they were there for the likes of me too, namely, a survivor. There were very few survivors to whom I could talk. I spent 16 weeks in Dún Laoghaire but there was nothing there for a farmer or an amputee. That is something that needs to be highlighted and funding for organisations like Embrace FARM is very important. There are farmers who will talk to members of Embrace but they will not talk to a professional. Members of Embrace have been involved in the same or similar situations and are able to relate to other farmers. There is no point in talking to someone who reads about these situations from textbooks and who does not really know what it is like. To take the example of child birth, I can read all about it but can I describe the pain of it? No, I cannot because I have never experienced it.

On the issue of insurance, I was involved with the banks and had insurance for both personal accident and critical injury. One of the banks had no problem in paying out. The other bank was involved with the business. My wife phoned them to find out what they would pay out and they asked what had happened. She told them that I had lost the leg and that the other one was just barely hanging on. They told her to get back to them when I lost the other leg and they would pay out then because the policy stipulated that I had to lose two legs in order to collect. I know what people are going through when they cannot get insurance. I know what is going on there.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine also needs to cop on, for want of a better phrase. I remember when departmental officials came out to do a farm inspection. I was walking around on crutches but they had no sympathy for me. It is not as if we are trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. This all needs to be examined. The question is often asked as to why we do not make more safety-based investments on farms. If we were getting a better price for our product we would have more money to do so, like the big companies which are able to invest in safety. A contributor spoke earlier about working with Elan, which has an enormous budget for health and safety. Unfortunately, the budget on farms is limited. I am a suckler and beef farmer and the average take home pay for farmers like me last year was about €10,000. If the transmission fails on the machine in the morning, it is gone but I still have to support my family. That is where we are coming from. We do not have big budgets on farms. If anyone would like to talk more to me about this, I am happy to give my phone number to the committee and members can call me at any point. Others wish to speak today so I will let them continue.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I invite the other witnesses to pick up on the questions posed by Senators.

Mr. Seamus Boland:

Senator Mullins asked, in the context of various experts being here, where we go from here. We sympathise with the work being done by Embrace FARM. We would argue that a lot of farmers out there are very busy people. They are particularly busy at hay time, milking time and so forth and those are the times when accidents happen. The term "culture" is used in many different contexts but we must change the culture on farms. We have got to get people to walk around yards, their own or their neighbours' and notice risks. They have to see, for example, that a pallet should not be lying there, that a tractor should not be left with its loader up in the sky and so forth. It is a culture of noticing that we need to develop. Farmers have to think of everything else - they need to get this, that and the other together - and they forget about the guard and the safety. It is a safety culture that Embrace FARM, Mr. Dolan and all of the others who have presented today want to generate. We need to change the mindset of farmers.

In the midlands, we got ordinary farmers to turn up to discuss these issues, to see what they do best and to respond to their colleagues. When a departmental inspector comes into a farmyard, farmers are worried about what he or she is looking for. No offence to the representatives from the Department of agriculture, but when an inspector arrives, the farmer's main objective is to get him or her out of the yard as quickly as possible instead of listening to his or her advice. When a farmer colleague or neighbour comes into the yard, on the other hand, farmers will listen to him or her. Indeed, farmers may compete with one another, saying to themselves, "He has a great yard but wait until I get my yard together. I'll soon show him".

It is a culture. One must notice the mistakes and notice the potential. The potential for organisations that have presented here to do so in some sort of proper safety forum is crucial because one has survivors who can speak and tell the truth, and people like ourselves who are ordinary farmers, many of whom have not experienced accidents but who now know what could cause them. The answer is to bring people together to share the experience. Irish Rural Link would like such a pilot scheme to be extended all around the country. The midlands were a blackspot before the pilot scheme was introduced and there was a reduction in accident numbers during the process. Tipperary and Cork are now blackspots and they need help.

Mr. John Dolan:

Senator Mullen referred to what can be done. To put it in perspective at farm level, my father milked 15 cows and he and my mother worked together. The farm was a different place then. My son and I intend to milk 200 cows with probably another half labour unit. That involves pressure due to the timescale. That is not just the case with me; it is the same for everyone across the industry. The committee will not come up with a solution to it but reference has been made to the income squeeze that is evident. Much of the problem centres on that. The point was made in the previous session that the impetus towards cheap food has cost lives. If one is to remember one line from today's meeting, it is that cheap food has cost lives.

I was at the opening of an extension to the PPD pharmaceutical factory in Athlone recently. We walked down an aisle covered in safety glass and we could look at people working in laboratories all along the wall. We were all handed safety glasses prior to our walk around. There was as much chance of winning the lotto as of something going into my eye as I walked along the aisle. When we came out, a man with me said that I would go home to my farm to milk my cows that evening and he asked whether I would even think of putting on safety glasses. I said if anyone saw me wearing them they would laugh at me. That is the attitude. I am aware of the issues that exist.

There are two things we can do in terms of education. There should be a farm safety module in agricultural science for the leaving certificate. Every child who does agricultural science for the leaving certificate is usually from a rural area. The IFA in Offaly brought rural schools into county libraries and gave them a talk on farm safety. It is probably an initiative that could be extended to local authorities that would involve county veterinary officers working with rural schools. There is an opportunity in that regard.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I have two brief questions. A couple of speakers referred to progress in terms of dealing with gases emitted by slurry tanks. A system is being developed by an engineering company to extract the poisonous gases from the slurry tank which would prevent a farmer or his son inhaling them. That would prevent people collapsing and falling into slurry pits, which unfortunately happens too frequently. Last year, there was a very high profile case in Northern Ireland which involved tragic circumstances. There was another case last year close to where I live in west Cork in which a fit, young man lost his life. How advanced is progress in that regard?

My other question relates to using a belt. When a fisherman goes overboard, a bleeper goes off when he hits the water. Is there a system in place whereby a bleeper would sound if gas levels reached a dangerous level? How much progress has been made in that regard? I am a farmer's son and I live in a farming community. Farm slurry tank accidents should not be happening in 2015. There are limited times during the year when one can agitate a tank with the intention of filling a slurry spreader in order to spread the slurry and the basic approach should be that people ensure they are not caught out, yet every year one, two or three people are caught, which is most unfortunate.

I wish to respond to what Mr. Rohan said about making wills compulsory in certain circumstances. I am interested in the point as I work as a solicitor as part of my day job. There are situations where a couple is not legally married but they have children and difficulties can arise with the banks in the event of a farm fatality. Could the Succession Act be changed to incorporate some of the ideas he outlined? I am very interested in Mr. Rohan's ideas but I am not sure how they could be progressed. The law is a fluid entity and change is always possible. What was not possible in 1940 has since been changed. Without holding up matters unduly, I would welcome a brief comment from the witnesses on those two final issues.

Mr. Vincent Nally:

The storage of slurry on farms is a relatively new concept. In terms of shed design, we heard about manholes and internal manholes in earlier presentations. It has been a huge learning curve in a very short space of time, probably a period of 20 to 25 years. Huge volumes of slurry are now being stored. Another issue that is leading to a problem is the power of the machinery for agitating and moving the slurry prior to spreading. As the machinery is able to move the slurry so fast, there is a massive movement of gas out of the slurry in a very short period. The problem with the slurry gas is that it is a silent, invisible killer. It is heavier than air. The fatalities are likely to occur under two circumstances. The first is on a very calm day when there is no air movement. Farmers to whom I have spoken have either experienced it or know a neighbour who has experienced an animal being lost on slats. They are usually animals that are lying on the slats that have not been removed and when the gas rises to their nostrils, they are dead as soon as they get one lungful. The animals that are standing usually panic and when there is commotion, the farmer runs in to let them out. He is exposed then as soon as he enters the shed.

Last year, we worked in partnership with the HSA. Ideas also came from the group of mentors. We came up with signage which listed eight best practice guidelines farmers should follow when agitating. We produced some such signs and got them out to farms. We also put up a number of them in marts and are seeking other mart managers to put them up. Combined with the work outlined we produced a DVD. We got a famous Galway footballer from the 1960s who had lost his son, Noel Tierney, to co-operate. It took two months to convince the Tierney family to do the testimonial but it has been a very powerful piece of work. As of a fortnight ago, it had 70,000 hits on the Internet. It is only a tool but, again, it is using farmers to communicate the message.

As Mr. Gohery mentioned, investment capacity is a major constraint. We looked at the problem with slurry and spoke to fellow farmers. It is the policy of the Health and Safety Authority that monitors give a false sense of security. Monitors are a piece of technology which, first, can malfunction but, second, needs annual if not biannual calibration. Not alone is there a purchase cost, but it is also a sensitive piece of equipment that needs ongoing calibration. The HSA has rowed away from supporting gas monitors in favour of using best practice, namely, staying away when agitating, the removal of animals from the shed and keeping pets away.

The sad reality is that we have seen a number of fatalities even in the past year. There were very sad cases, for example, of a father in Cork who tried to save his son. Slurry gas is a silent, invisible killer. We know that it is the one type of accident that can take multiple lives such as in the case of the three members of the Spence family. There was a tragedy in Poland last year where seven members of the one family died. We are at the stage where we have a retrofit slat idea that any farmer can use. It is ideally suited to a farmer who is building extra slurry capacity on his farm. Instead of building an extra tank, he builds a digester and he diverts his slurry from his existing slatted floor system into the digester, which gives him the extra capacity.

When the digester is finished, the digestive goes back into the original tank. It is a very simple concept but, again, it will require support. We are speaking to the likes of SEAI and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine about what we will do with the idea. That is where we are with that.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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One thing that troubles me is that it is not that long ago since €1.3 billion was spent on farm pollution control, which is a substantial figure. Slurry deaths are relatively new, although they were happening 20 years ago. All this investment - €1.3 billion - has been put into farms in the current economic climate, but that scheme was not dreamed of. I think the grant was double the amount being paid in Northern Ireland, for example. I am not looking for an answer, but €1.3 billion has been spent, much of it in the last decade. Much of that went into slurry storage, among other things, so why was some element of it not spent on trying to save lives? However, that is not a question for the witnesses to answer.

Mr. Peter Gohery:

On Senator Rónán Mullen's question about adaptation, in my accident I lost the clutch leg for driving a tractor, but there is no funding to get one's tractor adapted. If a farmer is paralysed from the waist down, there is no funding for a hoist. As I am self-employed, there is nothing there for me, but if I was an employee, my employer would get every kind of funding to get me back to work and to facilitate me. Why is that not available for us? Not many farmers have serious accidents, but those who do want to get back farming and there should be a little bit of funding for them. They can adapt their cars but they cannot adapt their tractors. Some of them do not want to buy a car or a Jeep. If a few euro was made available or if the VAT was removed, it would not be missed. It would be something simple.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Embrace Farm and Irish Rural Link, which are doing exceptional work throughout rural Ireland. I also thank Councillor Dolan. We are grateful for their attendance.

Mr. Brian Rohan:

I refer to the Chairman's query about wills. When we organised Embrace Farm, I spoke to the head of agri-strategy in one of the leading banks in the country. I asked if there was anything the bank could do in the case of a farmer being killed and the account being frozen, and I was told that the banks are governed by wills, so if wills were made compulsory, it would be helpful in that situation.

In regard to legislation, had the health and safety inspector visited our farm the morning of Dad's accident, we would have been passed as fit for purpose, because our farm was always a safe farm and Dad was always safety-conscious. One of the last things he did before he was killed was to change the PTO cover on a slurry tank. I said to him that it was not that bad but he said it was damaged and that if he lent it to anybody and something happened, he could not forgive himself. It goes to show what can happen no matter how careful one is. Farmers must take responsibility for their actions. When Dad was working on the machine, he probably should have put more safety standards in place for it.

It must start with education. We must start with children at national school and educate them, whether through books, videos or otherwise, and work up. As one of the contributors said earlier, all this farm safety could be a generational change.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses. We are very grateful for their submissions and their oral evidence, which will be taken on board and will form part of our eventual conclusions.

We will now move on to group five, State agencies. The committee will now hear presentations from two State bodies which are central to the promotion and support of farm safety. The Health and Safety Authority, which was established in 1989, it is the national statutory body with responsibility for ensuring that workers, whether employed or self-employed, and those affected by work activity are protected from work-related injury and ill-health. The Health and Safety Authority is represented by Mr. Martin O'Halloran, CEO, and Mr. Pat Griffin.

Teagasc, which was established in 1988, is the national body providing integrated research and advisory and training services for the agriculture and food industry and rural communities. Teagasc is represented by Mr. John G. McNamara, health and safety officer, and by Mr. David Meredith, spatial analysis and rural development. They are all very welcome.

Before we begin, I remind witnesses that their position before the committee is that of a witness. Witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the evidence they give to the committee. However, if they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and they continue to so do, they will thereafter be entitled only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I invite the representatives of the Health and Safety Authority to address the committee. Each group will have five minutes and we will then have a question and answer session with the Senators.

Mr. Martin O'Halloran:

Táim an-bhuíoch den Seanad as ucht an cheist seo a phlé inniu. We are very appreciative of the work of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee in bringing this topic forward. It is something to which we are very committed. We have provided the committee with a submission but I do not propose to go through it in detail. However, I will cover some of the key elements of it.

The first point on which to reflect is that our work tends to be focused on risk. One of the charts we have provided shows that the primary cause of fatalities and, indeed, non-fatal accidents in agriculture is tractors and farm vehicles, followed by farm machinery. Between them, they account for almost 50% of all fatal accidents, followed by livestock, drowning, gas and falling from heights. Those five basic causes cover more than 80% of the fatal accidents arising. That is really where the focus of our effort must be.

In terms of the work of the authority, analysis points to dairying as the single highest-risk sub-sector within agriculture by a significant margin. In the context of the economic evolution of agriculture in Ireland, with the abolition of quotas, dairying will become an even more important sector, with significant projected growth. This morning I heard the figure of projected economic output rising to €10 billion, so it is very important to work individually and collectively to achieve significant improvements, because it is not acceptable that we are a world-class food producer at the cost of the lives of farmers, their families and workers.

I will give an overview of some of the work the authority does. Sometimes there is a perception that we are prosecutorial body. That constitutes a minority of our activity. The main thrust of our work is education, advice, information, guidance, inspection on a collaborative basis, discussion groups, codes of practice, farm safety walks, talks and conferences. In terms of the agricultural community and our engagement with it, what I call the enforcement aspect is quite minimal. We tend to operate in a partnership and supportive model. We work collaboratively with all of the organisations that made presentations today. That is the first thing I would like to stress.

In terms of education, it is not always known that we have a module available on our e-learning website which is available to every primary school in the country, and we have communicated that to each of the more than 3,000 schools. It is a free e-learning online module on farm safety, which is available to every school. We also have interventions at second level and at territory level. We work with colleges and universities to influence the content of the syllabus for agricultural science degrees and those professions which ultimately end up in farming.

In terms of advice, we give advice through our website. Each year, although not limited to agriculture, we have in the region of 1 million downloads and many hits. We work through social media, including YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn. We also produced a code of practice a number of years ago which was issued free to every farmer in the country.

It is also available for completion online and later this year, we expect to go live with a BeSMART tool. This tool is available free online to anyone who wishes to use it. It is a self-help tool to help people to do hazard identification, risk assessment and identify the necessary controls. Indeed, I saw the board game the young man presented earlier. It is not dissimilar, in terms of progress, in that it starts off asking what are the hazards, what are the risks, what are the controls and how does one do them.

The farm safety partnership was established in 2002 but was given renewed life a number of years ago. On that, we have participation from all of the farming stakeholder bodies. Approximately three years ago, we were probably a bit of a lone voice articulating the agenda for farm safety. However, we really welcome and see it as progress that it has now become a significant national agenda item. In 2015, we will progress with discussion groups. We will do approximately 2,500 farm safety visits. We tend to use the language of farm safety visits because, by and large, they are positive, advisory and provide information and farmers are invited to participate. We also do farm safety walks and we provide inspectors to conferences. Indeed, many of the farming representative organisations seek to have an input from an inspector, so inspectors willingly provide that input morning, noon and night. They are willing to travel.

In terms of some of the initiatives we believe will have to happen, we wish to lead with a positive approach but I remind the committee that, in terms of achieving the cultural and behavioural change that is necessary, it must be a mix of what one might call the carrot and stick approach and positive and not so positive incentives. I remind the committee that the success Ireland has achieved as a world leader in terms of plastic bags was through advice and information but there was a sting in the tail when everybody had to pay 22 cent per bag. Similarly, we have achieved world leader status on the smoking ban in which the Health and Safety Authority was very much involved. That was achieved through a combination of advice, awareness raising and information but it did pose a challenge to those who did not comply. Equally, drink-driving and all of the other significant behavioural changes which have been achieved in Ireland have had a number of discrete elements.

We work in collaboration and closely with Teagasc and we will continue to do so.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I invite Mr. John McNamara of Teagasc to make his opening statement.

Mr. John McNamara:

Teagasc welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to and appear before this committee. Teagasc as an organisation is deeply committed to assisting farmers to reduce the level of occupational injury and ill health to the greatest possible extent. We know such occurrences cause great tragedy, pain and suffering, disability and farm business loss. Today, I am joined by my colleague, Mr. Larry O’Loughlin, who lost his father in a farm accident in 1959. We do know the consequences of farm accidents.

Teagasc operates a research knowledge transfer model which is regarded as a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations best practice model. We apply our and other international research to and with the farming community to the benefit of farmers and society as a whole. Teagasc has completed ten high-level research studies into occupational health and safety over the past five years. We wish to have this knowledge applied. I thank our colleagues from the Health and Safety Authority for co-funding several of these studies. My colleague, Dr. Meredith, has done a demographic study of fatal farm accidents. I have done a study on the adoption of the farm safety code of practice. We have done studies on the impact of disability on farm households, rural suicide prevention, safety with livestock and farmers’ physical health. The latter is interrelated as people in poor health tend to have more accidents on the farm. We have recently completed a knowledge transfer studying advice and training. We also have studied work organisation on farms and how they affect farm accidents. We are about to commence a study of discussion groups and their role in farm safety. We have done measurements of slurry gas issues and slurry aeration.

Teagasc is a member of the farm safety partnership. We greatly appreciate working with all State and farming organisations to promote health and safety. We have a memorandum of understanding with the HSA to develop a code of practice and seek its implementation.

On the ground, Teagasc produces media articles on farm safety. We do training with all the farming community. We have a strong training programme in place that every new entrant gets. We also provide training to adult farmers on the code of practice. We run advisory events on farms, farm walks, discussion groups and give strong advice on health and safety issues. Teagasc has a committed staff of 30 trained health and safety officers who provide a service at county level.

Our researchers have discovered that when there is a facilitated peer engagement of farmers talking to farmers in a practical way focusing on an issue on an ongoing basis, it tends to lead to greater adoption of the code of practice.

As part of our programmes, we are increasingly emphasising discussion groups. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has indicated that it plans to incentivise discussion groups in future TAMS schemes, and this is a very positive and constructive development.

Dr. David Meredith:

The work I do is around statistical analysis of the trends we see with regard to farm fatalities with the objective of getting a much greater understanding of what is driving these trends. While we have been doing this for a number of years, taking the period since 2008, the number of fatalities is above the long-term average and the increase has been driven by a growing number of deaths among the population aged between 45 and 64 years. This is 57% above its long-term average, which equates to three additional deaths per year. This is most likely driven by increases in the size of that population and the amount of work that population is engaged in. The population aged between 45 and 64 years is growing as a consequence of farm succession issues. People are inheriting farms when they are in their late 40s or early 50s. Those who had been working off-farm and lost their jobs during the recession have returned to working on the farm. There has been much farm expansion in recent years, particularly in the dairy sector, and this has resulted in an increase in the number of hours worked and, consequently, a very substantial increase in the exposure to risk. I thank the committee for its time and attention.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Is it true that, by and large, the older farmer is being hit rather then the young person aged 16 or 17 who is driving a tractor? In terms of European averages per capita, how much above average is Ireland? Do the witnesses have those figures?

Dr. David Meredith:

We do not have such figures, not because we have not sought them but because it is very difficult to get comparable information. Different countries record statistics on fatalities in very different ways. Although one would think a farm fatality is a farm fatality, different countries record them very differently and it is very difficult to make international comparisons. A larger proportion of all deaths on farms are accounted for by older farmers. However, since the onset of the recession, this has reversed and younger farmers, particularly those aged between 45 and 64, are beginning to make up most of the deaths. Those are the raw numbers; we can also examine the rate. Considering the number of fatalities per person aged over 65 years, older farmers are much more likely to die. We think this reflects the fact that while people may have accidents throughout their lives, as they age the accidents become fatal. Whereas a person who has an accident aged 16, 26 or 36 may end up in hospital, a person aged over 65 who has an accident is more likely to die from it.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Dr. Meredith mentioned that farmers are inheriting landholdings at a much older age. Does this not contravene the Department's policy of incentivising farmers to hand over to their younger relatives as early as possible? During the past 25 to 30 years, the Department, under various Governments, along with farming organisations, have encouraged farmers to hand their farms over when their successors are in their 20s rather than in their 40s. There seems to be a contradiction between policy and what is actually happening.

Dr. David Meredith:

While I do not think there is a specific policy, there have been incentives down through the years to try to encourage early succession. All the evidence available to us internationally indicates that early succession results in greater levels of on-farm investment and better long-term viability for the farm enterprise.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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And safer farms.

Dr. David Meredith:

It should encourage safer farms with the qualification that in Ireland, very few people retire from farming at any age. Given that farmers generally remain engaged in some respect even after handing over the farm to a son or daughter, the risk still exists for them.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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That might contravene farm retirement schemes. A retired farmer is supposed to be retired. We will not go into it.

Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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Although Mr. O'Halloran mentioned that there are online e-learning tools for primary schools with farm-specific elements, we have heard submissions from various people today saying there is a need for such e-learning to be available for schools. If this e-learning is already there, there is obviously a need to market it and outline to all the organisations and people involved in farming that it is available. The HSA needs to get the message out there. Discussion groups have been mentioned. It has been advocated that we should have more discussion groups and we have discussed their benefits with other witnesses. What type of incentives will be put in place to encourage more discussion groups?

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for their submissions. A number of different groups have come before us, and the witnesses were in the Gallery during some of the hearings. Education is a theme that arose across all the participants. I am concerned that there does not seem to be enough joined-up thinking between the various agencies, and I would like the witnesses' thoughts on it. Although Senator Cummins spoke about the very useful educational video that is available on the website, we are told that this education is not available to schools. Do we need some sort of overall authority or a one-stop-shop to pull together all the various groups that are doing very valuable work in an overall strategy? It is a shame that a toolkit is available but schools are not using it. I would like the witnesses' thoughts on whether farm safety should be a compulsory module at second level, perhaps for the leaving certificate exam or during transition year, so that we could educate people at young age.

The IFA came before us earlier today and said they wanted farm inspectors to become advocates as opposed to putting the fear of God into farmers when they come on to their farms. I am sure the witnesses would agree. Are there are measures that the witnesses are taking, could take, or that the Government could assist them in taking, to try to change the culture from the perspective of both the farmers and the inspectors coming on to their farms?

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I thank our guests again for their very informative presentations. I have some questions for our guests from Teagasc. Am I correct that there are approximately 140,000 farm families in the country? What number of people are likely to be working on a farm on any given day, apart from people who would come on to farms to deal with farmers?

Are we talking about 200,000 people at least? How many of those people are on Teagasc's books? In the earlier session, Councillor Pat Dolan referred to the half-day course provided by Teagasc, which comes at a cost of €25. I am aware there are other educational initiatives, and there is the website material and so on. While I am conscious of not making myself unpopular with fellow people from a farming background, has any thought been given to making some of those courses compulsory or tying them in with single farm payments, or would that cause a revolution? How does one get people to do basic compliance?

Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)
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I welcome our guests. Mr. Martin O'Halloran mentioned that there were 2,500 farm visits per annum. How are the farms selected for visits? Are the visits announced? Does the farmer know in advance that a farm safety inspection is to take place? Where safety issues have been identified, is there a follow-up, and, if so, at what level? Would the representatives support the concept of a certification, similar to the Safe Pass that applies on a building site, to enable one to work on a farm?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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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.

Mr. Martin O'Halloran:

I will try to go through the questions in the order in which they have been asked. I apologise in advance if I miss any of them but, if so, please remind me.

The online module for schools was launched late in the third quarter of last year. The evidence and the feedback is that it is being used. Notwithstanding that, we will certainly take on board the point made by Senator Maurice Cummins. We wrote to the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills asking it to bring it to the attention of all 3,500 schools. However, we will renew our efforts in that area and ensure it is brought to attention through any channel of communication.

In regard to other aspects of education, we do have initiatives at second level. There are transition year modules on safety which cover aspects of farm safety and general safety. In 2013, we ran an art and writing competition for children which saw the participation of more than 10,000 children nationally. Through that we produced a book which was distributed to every school and every library in the country:Only a Giant can Lift a Bull.It was the testimony of children themselves, their stories of farm experiences and farm accidents. It was their feedback. In terms of second level, we have been in consultation with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment as we have a concern that the curriculum for agricultural science has not been updated for a long time. We have made a submission stating that we believe it must be updated and brought into line with modern practices and modern thinking. One of the speakers mentioned the size of the animal, the size of the machinery, the speed and intensity. That has all changed, and the curriculum is based on a world of agriculture that is already 30 or 40 years back in history. We would welcome that.

We feel there would be merit in having a Safe Pass type of model. The concept is valid. Our colleagues in Teagasc touched on this, but we would envisage a link with the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme to create a positive incentive - that there would be a compulsory training element associated with the grant for improving farm safety. The training materials are available and there is a structure in place to deliver them. They are being delivered but we would like to see that go further.

In terms of the experience of farm inspections, my colleague Mr. Pat Griffin will touch on this issue. After our inspectors go to any workplace, we randomly select a number of the workplaces that have been visited by inspectors to check back on what has been the experience of that person, and overwhelmingly the experience has been positive. The number of cases of visits to farms resulting in formal enforcement is very small. I will invite Mr. Pat Griffin to cover the follow-up on inspections and how they are chosen.

Following a fatality on a farm, the arrangement is that generally the Garda will be the first responder. It is an extremely tragic event. The investigation is probably one of the most difficult and challenging that any inspector or garda will carry out. Often, inspectors will go to a farm where there has been a brutal and tragic accident. I do not want to go into the graphic details, but such accidents can be very brutal and bodies can be mutilated. That is a very traumatic experience for the people visiting and is even more traumatic for the family. After an incident occurs on the farm, every day when the family go in and out, that is a perpetual reminder of where they lost a loved one. It is not easy. We are always learning, but feedback shows that the inspectors will go when alerted to a fatal accident and will generally back away and leave their card with the family and re-engage when the family have had an opportunity to get themselves into a better place where they can engage with the regulatory body. That is a great challenge for us.

In regard to the discussion groups and the inspection process, I will hand over to my colleague, senior inspector Mr. Pat Griffin.

Mr. Pat Griffin:

I thank the Chairman and members for the opportunity to speak. In relation to our inspection process, we have limited resources for the inspection of workplaces across the country. However, we have maintained a huge level of inspection relative to other sectors within the agriculture sector. We plan to inspect 2,300 farms across the country this year.

This represents giving 25% of our inspection resource to a sector employing 6%, so we give the agricultural sector quite an element of our inspection resource. With regard to how they are selected, we look at the trends throughout the country and the chart on death black spots which we developed with Teagasc and which was included with our submission. It shows pockets where there are significantly higher levels of farm deaths. We focus on high-risk areas first, and we also consider where there is expansion and movement and try to focus on this. With regard to carrying out the selection process, we do not have a full database of all farmers in the country. Inspectors are given counties to look after and they will decide to go out on inspection for a week or two. They look for progressive farms, farms where it seems much work is being done, and bigger farms.

The process is non-confrontational. We agreed with the farming organisations to rename our farm safety inspections as farm safety visits to show that we are not confrontational and that we want to be there to help farmers. All our inspectors are asked to be a help in the first instance and to provide guidance and reassurance to farmers and help them in what they do to protect their families and themselves from risk. The general feedback from all of our inspections is very positive, and this morning Mr. Eddie Downey recounted his positive experience of inspection, but we do find situations where something on a farm can be wrong. Farmers can be found to be operating a machine without a PTO guard, or there can be open slurry tanks. In such cases of clear and visible breaches we issue an enforcement notice in the form of an improvement notice and give the farmers a certain period of time to fix the problem. Generally, we do not have issues. We have regulated the agricultural sector for 20 years, and within this period we have had seven or eight prosecutions, which were generally on foot of asking the farmers in question two or three times to make a certain repair job on machinery or change a certain process. We have not used much of the stick. Normally the follow-up process involves issuing written advice to the farmer listing the primary issues that need to be fixed. We do not normally require a repeat visit, but if an improvement or prohibition notice has been issued we do return to the farm to see that the issues have been put right. Four years ago we increased farm inspections by almost 100%, from 1,500 to 3,000 per year, and maintained this rate of inspection until this year, when we decided to reduce the level of inspection to 2,300 to facilitate getting involved with discussion groups.

We certainly do not have the answers, and this is a huge problem throughout the world. According to figures for ten EU member states in 2007, the death rate throughout Europe was 12 per 100,000 employed in the sector, but since then no figures on which we can rely have been produced. We can be told how many calves will be born in Europe this year but not how many farmers will be killed. I estimate 1,000 farmers in Europe are killed every year. We work with other organisations to deal with this issue. We work closely with Teagasc and examine the research it does. It has found the discussion group model has been hugely beneficial with regard to farmers taking on new technology and developing. We wanted to see if we could track the use of discussion groups to get this culture change, particularly in the high-risk areas that farmers need to change. This year we will get involved with 50 discussion groups as a pilot. We have also been in discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the knowledge transfer groups which will be formed later this year. We have made a submission to make health and safety a mandatory element of the discussion group model.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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We are running more than half an hour late. Some groups have been here since 2 p.m., and we are going beyond our time remit.

Mr. John McNamara:

The scientific literature indicates the discussion group model is the way to go, as people speak and are animated. Teagasc has 800 discussion groups and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine plans to incentivise further discussion groups over a three-year period. In the recent past the dairy efficiency programme incentivised discussion groups. Our researchers Thia Hennessy and Dr. Kevin Heanue found it was very economically beneficial to do so. Discussion groups or similar vehicles are also used in other spheres, such as health promotion, to achieve desirable change.

Our submission notes there are approximately 228,000 farmers, 247,000 labour units on farms and approximately 400,000 people living on farms. It is worthwhile pointing out to the committee that self-employment is an issue. The majority of farmers are self-employed, which is fundamentally different from being employed by somebody.

We have provided training on risk assessment with the Health and Safety Authority to approximately 30,000 farmers. The majority of them have been related to Teagasc. We have 44,000 clients but provide the public service to all farmers. Our submission proposes the introduction of incentives to increase the number of people attending half-day courses. Any work we do on health and safety is public and available to private consultants also. Our submission points out the need for further incentives in this area.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee. Their evidence forms an important component of our work. I hope they did not think I was rushing them, but we want to bring in the final group, comprising two organisations with commercial development mandates and a medical doctor. The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, ICOS, is an umbrella organisation which serves and promotes commercial co-operative businesses and enterprise. It was founded in 1894 and its roots are in the agricultural co-operative movement. Today it is represented by Mr. T.J. Flanagan, its dairy policy executive. The Professional Agricultural Contractors of Ireland, PAC, represents the interests of Irish agricultural contractors. It is represented on the Health and Safety Authority's farm safety partnership advisory committee. The organisation is represented by Mr. Tom Murphy and Mr. Dessie Cunningham, a former honorary chairman. Dr. Oladele Olajide Onada has been practising general medicine as an employee of the Health Service Executive since 2001. His submission to the committee draws particular attention to the incidence of occupational lung disease among Irish farmers. They are all very welcome. We will begin with ICOS, and I invite Mr. Flanagan to make his opening statement, for which he has approximately five minutes.

Mr. T.J. Flanagan:

I thank the Chairman.

I will be reasonably brief. ICOS is the umbrella body for agricultural co-operatives so we do not represent farmers per se. Rather, we represent the bodies where they come together to do business. Like most stakeholders, we have been particularly concerned about the level of on-farm deaths, particularly deaths and accidents in the dairy sector because we are more concerned with this sector as the co-operative business is more evolved there. Dairy farmers are probably three times more likely to suffer a serious farm accident or death on farm. We are particularly concerned in the context of expansion and future planned expansion in the dairy sector and on farms where farmers and their facilities will be particularly stretched over the coming years. Their management abilities, including their management of time, and the facilities they have in terms of machinery and slurry-handling facilities will be stretched. Nobody has an ideal set of facilities but if we are going to expand by 50% or 60% plus over the next number of years, they will be even more stretched, which is a particular worry for us.

We were approached by FBD Trust before Christmas to find out whether we could collaborate with it around improving communication of risks, particularly with dairy farmers. We welcomed the approach and have collaborated with it. One needs to be careful about how one communicates with farmers and gives them information. We all receive a lot of stuff in the post, particularly as we approach an election, and we need to be careful about how we communicate with people and the quality of information we give them. In collaboration with FBD Trust, we have developed a pack to circulate in the first instance to all 18,000 dairy farmers. This pack includes a number of DVDs, brochures on safety and health, including mental health, and some promotional stuff for farmers' children to get them thinking about their father or mother's safety on the farm. Our member co-operatives are circulating 18,000 packs to their dairy farmer members to get them a bit more focused. When they come in from their very busy day in the evening, they might browse through some of this information and it might strike home.

We have developed 250 signs that will go up in co-operative branches, which are trading retail outlets, and co-operative marts. The signs are big six foot by four foot aluminium signs with a safety message of "Champions for Change", a campaign developed by FBD Trust. The third aspect of the campaign we are running with FBD Trust and the co-operatives is a series of promotions in co-operative stores during Farm Safety Week, which I gather is in May. I think the promotion of farm safety equipment was mentioned earlier by one of the other speakers so it is planned that there will be increased merchandising of farm safety equipment highlighting the fact that it is Farm Safety Week.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Mr. Flanagan. I was complimenting Mr. Duffy, the young man from Ballybay, earlier. I think Mr. Flanagan has just broken his record. We will hear next from Professional Agricultural Contractors of Ireland.

Mr. Tom Murphy:

On behalf of Professional Agricultural Contractors of Ireland, PAC, I thank the Chairman for affording me the opportunity to address the committee on the very important issue of farm safety. Since 1994, every HSA annual report has identified agriculture as a risk alert sector. Although the introduction of the code of practice relating to children in farming saw a marked reduction in the number of children injured or killed, we have seen no sustained downward trend in the overall number of farm accidents and fatalities. Conversely, figures over this time show that total fatalities in other employment sectors have halved. Farming is a stressful and high-risk occupation and managing health and safety in the busy and potentially dangerous working environment of a farm is challenging for farmers and legislators.

Since 2004, some 206 people have lost their lives on Irish farms and thousands have sustained serious injury. The figures for injury rates are only the tip of the iceberg as it is accepted that there is serious under-reporting. Between 40% to 60% of fatalities and injuries involve tractors and machinery with victims being crushed, trapped and struck and falling from vehicles. Such incidents suggest an element of human error along with vehicle maintenance issues.

PAC believes there should be a legal requirement for all tractors to undergo testing every two years to ensure minimum safety standards. This is the case for machinery in all other sectors, regardless of whether it is used on the public highway or in the workplace. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires all employers, including farmers, regardless of whether or not they have employees, to make sure that persons operating machinery are trained to ensure they are competent. Over the past decade, farm machinery has increased in size, power and complexity. However, machines are delivered to the farm with no requirement for training in their safe use or maintenance. The same is true of smaller machinery such as chainsaws and all-terrain vehicles. PAC believes the machinery industry should be obliged to provide appropriate training where such machinery is purchased.

In respect of wider safety issues, the introduction of compulsory safety awareness training for all persons working on farms would ensure that farmers are not at a disadvantage in comparison to those working in other employment sectors. The HSA's farm safety partnership advisory committee, of which PAC is a member, has along with other stakeholders expended considerable energy in raising awareness of farm safety. However, economic restraint in recent years has resulted in a 25% cut in the authority's budget from €24 million to €18 million per annum and a subsequent 25% reduction in staffing levels. To be effective, the HSA must be properly resourced. There is no benefit in having an organisation that cannot fully carry out its work due to underfunding.

PAC makes the following recommendations. It recommends that the programme of HSA farm inspections be extended and not curtailed and that the programme of safety awareness discussion groups be expanded to reach the maximum number of farmers at local level. In order to direct policy and ensure resources are deployed efficiently and effectively, hospitals should be required to furnish the HSA with data relating to patients presenting at accident and emergency departments with injuries resulting from farm accidents. We believe the identification of engineering solutions to specific machinery safety issues should be pursued with manufacturers as a matter of urgency and that tractor testing every two years should be introduced to ensure a minimum standard. We believe training by suppliers upon purchase of certain machinery is essential and that compulsory safety training for farmers should be introduced as part of an ongoing process.

In conclusion, PAC believes that multiple strategies are required to improve farm safety. In our submission to this committee, we discussed many aspects of farm safety and made appropriate recommendations. However, we have focused today on issues relating to vehicles and machinery. It is now time to reappraise our approach to farm safety. For decades, enforcement bodies have adopted the carrot and stick approach but this has not worked. Farmers often say that managing safety is a costly business but in most cases, the cost of change is minimal and outlay is, after all, tax deductible. We need a sea change in the attitude of the entire farming community and for farmers to recognise that safety legislation is not a stick to beat them with but a means of support to keep them alive and well and their families and employees safe. We believe that with the support of Government and all stakeholders, Irish farms can become safer places to work and in the not-to-distant future, farm accidents and fatalities will be a rare occurrence.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The next speaker is Dr. Oladele Olajide Onada who has five minutes.

Dr. Oladele Olajide Onada:

Thank you, Chairman. I thank the Senators present and the Seanad Public Consultation Committee for the opportunity to make a presentation on farmer's lung disease as it relates to farm safety in Ireland.

As we all know, the economy grew by 5% in 2014 and agriculture grew by 10%. In 2015, the Irish economy has been growing at a rate of 4.8% of GDP with falling unemployment, increasing employment and sustainable investment in the agricultural sector. Economic growth and trade is above the 1.7% average for the EU and the eurozone average of 0.8%. Irish consumer spending has increased with the increase in domestic consumption of Irish agricultural products and services. Exports to Europe and the USA have also increased. This increase in agricultural economic activity along with economic growth should be reflected in farmers' health protection.

When farmer's lung disease is not recognised or diagnosed in hospitals, it can become progressive and can result in associated disability and fatality. When farmers come to the emergency department, they usually have chest complaints, including difficulty with breathing, chest discomfort coughing and wheezing. Chest complaints may also be accompanied by high fever, chills and so on. The exposure to mouldy hay during the winter or spring months can lead to a hypersensitivity reaction in the lungs. The chest complaints can result after the winter months when exposure to the mouldy hay has stopped. Farmer's lung disease is common in tillage and livestock farmers. Farmers who suffer from exposure to mouldy hay can see a resolution of the symptoms of farmer's lung disease. However, sustained exposure leads to progressive breathlessness.

Our medical group has made a recommendation for legislative changes in the area of risk assessment of farms to the effect that risk assessment for farmer's lung disease should be included. These legislative changes should be incorporated into the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and all its applications. Moreover, we recommend that the Government should provide financial incentives to farmers to upgrade their grain and hay storage technologies with a view to preventing farmer's lung disease. Farmers with established physical disability from farmer's lung disease should receive a health subsidy and financial incentives in respect of leaving farming, in addition to social benefits. We also propose education for Irish livestock farmers to help prevent farmer's lung disease.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Before we move on to questions, I acknowledge the presence of another group, AgriKids, that came to us too late to be included today. I was in touch with Alma Jordan, who is in the Gallery. I acknowledge that the group is doing tremendous work in the area. The submission we received from the group will be incorporated in our report. As someone said earlier, no organisation or political body has a monopoly of wisdom in the area of farm safety or on how we can improve farm safety. If we work together, remain united and take an integrated approach in the education of young people involved, it may be the best way to improve over the next ten or 15 years. We will probably never eliminate deaths on farms. It is a little like deaths on the roads in that human error plays a part. However, that is the hope we are going with. Did Senator Cummins wish to speak?

Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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I have looked at Dr. Onada's proposals for legislative changes to risk assessment on farms in view of what we have been hearing during the day. Most of the organisations have suggested that regulations and legislative changes should involve speaking to farmers and a preference for information and education rather than legislation. The proposals are very worthy. The risk of lung disease is something farmers should be well aware of. Does Dr. Onada believe it can be done by informing farmers and all their organisations without legislating? Does he believe it can be done through education and information sessions rather than legislation?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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We will address the questions presently. I wish to make a follow-on point to Dr. Onada. I would have thought that in modern times and in the 21st century the incidence of farmer's lung, as we call it, would have been eliminated. There has been a major shift from hay in the past 40 years, primarily to silage. A farmer may have become ill from working with hay 30 or 40 years ago, but I would have thought we would have come to the stage where farmer's lung was a thing of the past. It is concerning. Dr. Onada may wish to think about it and come back to the point in a moment. Is there someone else?

Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)
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I have a follow-on question to the question on farmer's lung. Dr. Onada suggested that it was associated with mouldy hay. He went on to say that it was common in tillage and livestock farming.

Dr. Oladele Olajide Onada:

Yes.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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You can reflect on that and come back, Dr. Onada. Our rapporteur, Senator Conway, wishes to make an intervention.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank all the witnesses for their submissions. It has been a long day, but most informative. I am keen to get the views of agricultural contractors on a scrappage scheme. One theme that has percolated through many, if not all, the submissions is the idea that a scrappage scheme is desirable. Obviously, if that is to materialise, it would have to be done at budget time by the Minister for Finance and it would have cost implications.

Reference was made to bringing equipment up to date. We heard an example of someone who wanted equipment upgraded. He was told he could get new equipment for the price of what it would cost to upgrade the old equipment. I cannot remember exactly what it was. As a result, he ended up bringing back the old equipment as well as the new equipment. That defied the purpose, because if something dangerous is lying around, it can be used.

Dr. Onada's contribution was very interesting and something that we, as a committee, may develop at a later date.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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When we are referring to the PAC we should be careful, because the PAC in this House means the Committee of Public Accounts.

Mr. Tom Murphy:

We had it first.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Would it be fair to say that there are not so many fatal accidents for farm contractors and agricultural contractors in general in their work? Can they say it has not happened on their watch? They do their job, whether it is cutting silage or whatever, and most of the people involved are professional and have good gear. The days of the machines breaking down two or three times a day are probably gone. If they have not, one might as well get out of agricultural contracting. I am keen to hear a general comment on that.

The first group of questions were centred on you, Dr. Onada. Perhaps you could provide a brief response.

Dr. Oladele Olajide Onada:

I thank the Senator for his question and for showing an interest in farmer's lung disease. The question of whether we need legislation to enforce safe practices with regard to farming, in particular, in respect of exposure to mouldy hay and the associated risk of developing farmer's lung disease was raised. Almost everything in Ireland is done by legislation. Most people are law-abiding citizens and take things seriously when legislation is in place. When people know that there is a penalty to be paid if things are not done properly or in an appropriate manner, they take these issues seriously. Farmer's lung disease is a serious issue. People can develop farmer's lung disease if the symptoms are not detected and at times it is difficult to detect in hospitals. Most of these patients who come to the emergency department in hospitals have breathlessness and chest complaints.

At times, they might think they have asthma or bronchitis but, if one probes further and asks them about their occupation and exposure to mouldy hay, and what they have been doing over the winter months, one will be able to say what it is. Not every hospital has the facilities to make a diagnosis of farmer's lung disease because the farmers have to do a series of tests before a diagnosis is arrived at. If a farmer comes to the hospital and the diagnosis is not detected on time, and if it is a progressive disease, then over a period of five years they may actually die. Some 50% of farmers who are exposed to mouldy hay and then develop farmer's lung disease eventually die.

To look at the vital statistics for Ireland, between 1992 and 2002 there were fluctuations in the annual data. The highest number of deaths recorded was 14, but even one death from this condition is too many. We have to put in place legislative instruments that force farmers, who may not actually be doing the farming themselves but instead employ people to farm for them, to put in place technology for storage of grains or feeds which will prevent development of farmer's lung disease. It is cheaper to go the way of education and develop DVDs and pamphlets. However, we also have to consider the fact some employees on farms may have limited education and may not understand what is being communicated to them. Some employees may come from east Asia and it may take them some time to adjust to the information being given to them. It is the responsibility of the farmer under the law to put in place technology to prevent farmer's lung disease.

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 states that an employer with three or fewer employees must have a code of practice as a substitute for a safety statement. The code of practice for both tillage and livestock farmers should include risk assessment documents for the activities on the farm and a safe system of work plan for the farm. The role of the farmer, according to the 2005 Act, is to provide the following: a safe system of storage of grains, hay handling and use of hazardous substances; a safe place of work, which includes farm buildings and safe working practices and procedures; safe equipment and machinery; a safe way in and out of the farm, farm buildings and the farm yard; information for farm employees; regular training of farm employees; and high visibility clothing and personal protective equipment, which will also include the wearing of face masks and preventing exposure. There has to be some form of legislative instrument to protect employees from developing farmer's lung disease. In addition, we can also put in place videos, DVDs, e-mails and text messages reminding employees working on farms about the risks of farmer's lung disease.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Thank you. That concludes our work for the day. On behalf of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee, I thank all those who have contributed to today's meeting. I believe it has been a very valuable exercise for us all and we have heard a wide range of experience and opinion from various groups. Full account will be taken of today's discussions when the draft report is being prepared and copied, and the final report will be sent to all contributors.

Before I adjourn the committee, I thank our secretariat and the clerk, Mr. Martin Groves, for all the effort they have put into it. Seeing as we are on the Martins, we should also give a special word of praise to Senator Martin Conway who recommended to our committee that we should take this issue on board. We will have to keep thanking the Martins, so my thanks to Senator Conway.

The committee will have a good bit of work to do to pull all of this together and to produce a report that will, in some way, help in this direction. We do not expect to have all the answers but, as a result of today's session, perhaps we can take some small step towards improving farm safety and even saving someone's life. Many thanks to all concerned, including my Seanad colleagues, for turning up today. Most of the committee were present, bar two members who were unfortunately absent. It has been a very worthwhile exercise for us and I have learned a lot from it.

Mr. Tom Murphy:

I would like to respond to the question on scrappage, if I may. People should not hold their breath in this regard. Scrappage would really be a subsidy on production. There is a very good, successful group of agricultural contractors who, over the past 50 years, have done work on farms. Even with scrappage, there would not be sufficient work on a farm to warrant the cost of buying a new tractor or machine.

On the question of safety, thank God fatalities have been rare among contractors in the past ten years, with just one fatality. That is down to the good offices of Mr. Dessie Cunningham and other contractors who keep their machinery well-maintained. That is the secret - maintaining machinery - which is why we believe testing of machinery has to come. It is the only way to bring safety on the farms.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I also extend my thanks to the witnesses, to the Chairman for his continuous support on this project, and to Mr. Martin Groves and Mr. Ronan Curran, our secretariat, who do a fantastic job which is often unrecognised, although certainly not by us.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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We must not forget the Leader of the Seanad, Senator Maurice Cummins, who ran with the ball Senator Conway presented in the House and said the committee should look at this. If he had not accepted Senator Conway's suggestion, it might not have happened.

I believe it is a very important day's work and I hope something good will come out of it. I apologise to Mr. Murphy. It was remiss of me not to allow him to answer the queries, one of which I raised myself. None the less it was a good day's work. I thank all who contributed and all of the staff who helped. The House does not usually sit on a Monday and it can sometimes take a pretty extraordinary effort to get politicians here on a Monday because they usually have other work to do in their constituencies. I appreciate the support from all angles to make this day, hopefully, a progression in the right direction for the whole area of farm safety. We cannot applaud enough the voluntary groups and all the organisations which have great concern and interest in this whole area. It is the coming together of various interested groups and joined-up thinking that will, hopefully, improve our record in order that we may, in ten years time, be seen as the best in Europe rather than lagging behind.