Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 18 November 2020

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised)

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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On the broader picture, the HSA does announced and unannounced inspections and most of its inspections are either unannounced or at short notice. Sometimes it has to give short notice because it is going into a particular workplace where it is not possible to just arrive with a bunch of health and safety inspectors because that would create safety issues in itself. Most of the inspections it does are either unannounced or are short notice inspections and that is a good way to do things. The approach it tries to take is one that encourages compliance. The HSA is not there to catch employers out, unless the abuses are flagrant. It is trying to detect failures and to work with employers and businesses to correct them. Where an employer is in gross breach of the law, the HSA has enforcement powers and it uses them.

On people being pressured to come into work when they do not need to, there are people who could work from home and perhaps feel they are being pressured into coming into the workplace when that is not necessary. I have come across some examples of that myself which people have contacted me about. To date we have pointed them in the direction of the Workplace Relations Commission, which is the appropriate body that can deal with complaints from people who believe they can work from home and are being told they have to come in when perhaps they do not have to. I have not seen many outcomes from those complaints yet.