Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

There is a degree of brass neck in the response by the Minister of State. Parliamentary questions have been tabled on this issue for years. This issue was raised by myself, among others, in the debate on the health and safety legislation. The response he and his predecessor presented was that there was adequate inspection and no need for further inspectors. It is only the crisis of recent times that has changed the Minister's view. He can now find the resources, without it being signalled in the Estimates that were published, for a substantial increase from 17.5 inspectors, not the 21 we were led to believe, to 28 or more. When did it really dawn on the Minister that this substantial requirement was needed? When will these inspectors be put in place? When they are put in place, will that be adequate to police a workforce of 2 million?

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