Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary)

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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I thank the Minister of State. Even in advance of us discussing the Bill tomorrow, under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, an employer is required to ensure that sufficient fresh air is provided in enclosed spaces of work. It continues to deal with ventilation systems and so on. A weakness is that it does not define what that is. Nonetheless, there is a general legal requirement on employers to provide sufficient fresh air, which obviously has increased importance in the context of the Covid pandemic. Obviously, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has responsibility for the Health and Safety Authority, HSA. How is the Health and Safety Authority policing this requirement and its inspections? Has it received any extra funding to police this requirement?